Big Leagues
by Yusei-pal473
Summary: A series of one-shots featuring OCs teaming up with various DC, Street Fighter, and Bleach heroes, to take down a series of rogues in a similar manner to 'Batman: The Brave and The Bold. Rated M for Violence, Suggestive/Sexual Themes, occasional Language. Cammy/OC. OC/Soifon tension.
1. Through the Looking Glass

**Alright, I know I'm using Logan Washburn in 'The World Warrior Tournament' and 'Search for Pandora' right now, but this has been in my head for a good while, so I figured I'd jot it down. This is a structure similar to 'Batman: The Brave and The Bold', but more serious. It'll have Logan teaming up with various DC heroes as well as Chun-Li and Cammy from **_**Street Fighter**_** and Soifon from **_**Bleach**_** once in a while. As such, it'll be in the crossover section as opposed to DC Comics.**

**DISCLAIMER: DC Comics owns all of the characters that are featured in this except Logan Washburn, Chun-Li, Cammy White, and Soifon. I own Logan, Capcom owns the **_**Street Fighter**_** series, and Tite Kubo owns **_**Bleach**_**.**

"Talking"

"_Radio/Communications"_

'_Thinking'_

* * *

**Through the Looking Glass**

In St. Louis, Logan Washburn was chasing a criminal who was getting away with some loot. The young Assassin was on his motorcycle and behind the crook as well. He saw that the perp was getting ready to fire, so he strafed to the right and dodged the bullets. Logan knew he wasn't going to get anywhere by simply chasing him on a motorcycle, so he pulled out one of his Civil War revolvers and shot the back right tire on the car, causing it to swerve and hit a lamppost. The crook tried to get away, but Logan used the chain on his grapple blade to bring him closer. He knocked out the thief and took the money back to the bank. "Thank you sir," said the manager.

"It was my pleasure," Logan said. After the manager went back inside, Logan went back to his bike before hearing a familiar voice.

"Working another late night, I see." The Assassin looked and saw one of the only two Justice Leaguers he's ever worked with. He had on a sleeveless green hoodie, arm guards, pants, boots, and a black domino mask. He had on him a hybrid Recurve/Longbow and a green quiver full of arrows. "Long time no see."

"You better believe it, GA. How's Canary?" he asked the archer. GA, or Green Arrow as he's called, chuckled.

"Oh, she's Canary. You should meet her some time."

"_Attention, All units. We have a disturbance at the Natural History Museum. Repeat: a disturbance at the Natural History Museum,"_ said a voice coming from Logan's radio.

"That better not be Vega again," Logan said before looking up at Green Arrow again. "Care to come along?" GA just smirked.

* * *

The duo got to the Museum and looked around until they saw the disturbance. Green Arrow readied his bow while Logan put his hand on his sword. The man had on a yellow outfit with a green belt and a black-and-green mask. "Hands up, McCulloch!" exclaimed Arrow.

"I told you, Arrow, the name's Mirror Master," said the man.

"Friend of yours?" asked Logan. Mirror Master grabbed a pistol and fired some laser shots at the duo. Logan used Flash Step to get out of the way while Green Arrow went behind a pillar.

"That's Evan McCulloch! He's better known as the Mirror Master! I'd try not to get too close to him if I were you!" Logan threw a trick knife at Mirror Master while GA fired a trick arrow. Mirror Master summoned a portal and sent both through it. A portal opened behind Logan and sent the knife and Arrow towards him. It turns out that these were bombs that exploded and sent him towards their foe. Mirror Master used a portal to trap Logan in a different dimension. "Logan!" Arrow exclaimed. He pointed an arrow at Mirror Master. "Where did you send him!?" he asked.

"It should be obvious, Arrow. I sent him to another dimension. Now I've got to run. It's been fun." With that, he used his powers to enter a mirror and get away. Green Arrow looked and saw that Mirror Master took an ancient vase.

* * *

In another universe, Logan came out of a portal. He had a look around and saw that he was in a downtown area. He just didn't know where. He got out his cell phone and saw that he was in an unfamiliar city in general. He decided to Flash Step onto the top of a building to see what was going on. He took another look around until he saw a water tower. "Starling City?" he asked himself. "I've never heard of it before." He ran on the rooftops until he saw a building with the words 'Queen Consolidated' on it. "Okay, now I'm freaking out. GA said that the company name was 'Queen Industries'. I must be in another dimension."

"Then I suggest you find a way back to your own," said a dark voice. Logan turned around and saw a figure jump down. The sky was dark, but he could tell that the figure was wearing a red hooded jacket and pants, red gloves, and a quiver complete with red arrows. He had on a red domino mask as well.

"I would find a way back to my own world, but I don't travel between dimensions. And what do you call yourself? Red Arrow?" asked the Assassin.

"Actually, the name's Arsenal. And you're in the wrong town," said Arsenal, pointing an arrow at Logan. He fired, only for the Assassin to dodge. Logan gritted his teeth at the name.

"I know an Arsenal in my world. He uses more than just arrows."

"You don't seem to like the name that much."

"That's because he and I don't get along that well." Arsenal continued to fire more arrows at Logan, who just kept dodging. The Assassin ran towards the archer and kicked him in the chest. Arsenal retaliated by hitting Logan with the bow. He went for another blow, but Logan caught him on his arm, locked it under his own, and elbowed him, knocking him down. He heard some running, so he turned around and clotheslined a speed demon in an all-red costume. Logan saw a lightning bolt symbol as well. "So this universe has its own Flash as well, huh? I'm not exactly impressed with this one."

"Well I'm impressed with you. It's not everyday someone clotheslines a speed demon like that," said the Flash. He got up and started punching at Logan at high speeds. The Assassin blocked a few, but was punched more than he blocked. After a bit, he decided enough was enough and tripped the Flash up. He started on his own barrage of attacks. Due to the quick chain of combos, Flash couldn't counter the attacks. After knocking the speedster down, an arrow was shot from the higher rooftops. It let out a special knockout gas, causing Logan to pass out.

* * *

After a bit, Logan started to stir. He heard four sets of voices, two of which belonged to Arsenal and Flash. One of the two unfamiliar ones was female while the other one was male. "…Oliver, quick! He's waking up!" said the female. Logan opened up his eyes and looked around. He saw the female, who had blonde hair, a white blouse, and a black skirt. He looked at the other unknown and saw that he had on a green version of what Arsenal wore. He looked at himself and discovered that he was tied to a chair while the woman was applying an ice pack on his head. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'd feel better if I wasn't tied down. Let me guess: Arsenal conked me in the head while I was knocked out, didn't he?" he responded, feeling a bit of pain.

"Yeah, he kind of did," answered Oliver. "The name's Oliver Queen."

"Green Arrow?" asked the Assassin.

"So you know my identity?" Logan nodded. "I wear a lot of green, but I just go by Arrow. This is Felicity Smoak. I see you've met Arsenal and Flash as well."

"You mean Roy and Barry? Yeah I met them. I can understand Barry attacking me since he felt that he had to protect his teammate. Roy's greeting on the other hand, not so much."

"How did you know their identities?" Felicity asked.

"I'm from a different dimension. There's an Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, and Roy Harper there as well. Barry and Roy still have their identities as Flash and Arsenal, but Roy's not so chummy with Ollie anymore."

"Let me guess," said Oliver. "The Oliver Queen there goes by Green Arrow, right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes, we call him either GA or Arrow." Arrow just knelt down in front of him. "What?"

"If I let you go, you're not going to attack us, are you?"

"No I'm not. What kind of idiot would I be if I went face-to-face with the Emerald Archer?" Oliver merely smirked and had Barry remove the rope that was binding him. Felicity handed him his hidden blades and sword back after he got up.

"Yeah, Roy did a number on you. Judging from the mark on the right side of your face, he hit you with his bow," said Barry.

"If I have any bruises on my torso, you know I'm pinning that on you." Oliver chuckled at the interaction between his two newest teammates. Just then, the door upstairs opened and down came an African-American man in a business suit.

"What's up, Dig?" asked Arrow.

"Check it, Oliver. One of Flash's archenemies is on the loose. It's the Trickster," he said. They looked on the computer screen and saw a freaky-looking goon in a clown costume. He had wild hair and the costume was half blue and half yellow. The blue had yellow polka dots on it.

"Flash and I will go on ahead," said Logan.

"Are you sure you can keep up with him?" asked Arsenal.

"Oh yeah," the Assassin answered. After that, he and Flash took off, leaving behind a bunch of scattered paper.

"Have fun cleaning that up, Diggle," said Arrow. After that, he and Arsenal got out of the hideout and got to the rooftops.

* * *

After running for a little bit, they got to the Starling City Bank. They saw the Trickster running from the building with a sack full of money. Logan just shook his head and got out one of his trick knives. He threw it a good distance in front of the Trickster and it exploded, sending the criminal kook back. "Don't you think you're getting a little old for this, Jesse?" asked Flash. "At least it's here where I have some teammates."

"Just be happy about that, Speed Demon! I'm not even done yet!" The Trickster literally sprang up and tried to hit the pair, but was caught in a net. They looked and saw that Arrow had arrived and fired a net arrow. Before Jesse could hit the ground, he pushed a button on his suit, causing it to expand and break the net. He bounced some more in the air before Arsenal fired an arrow, which poked a hole in the suit.

Logan followed that up by jumping off the wall, grabbing him, and tossing him onto another wall. Unfortunately, Jesse countered by punching him with a spring-loaded boxing glove fit on his hand. _'What's this guy's deal? From what Nightwing told me, he reminds me too much of a slightly less psychotic Joker,'_ Logan thought after recovering.

"You've just been introduced to James Jesse, aka The Trickster," said Flash as if reading his mind. "He has a lot of gimmicks under that clown suit so I suggest you be careful." As Flash said that, Trickster got out a hot-air balloon and floated up. Arrow fired a tracer arrow at the criminal when he wasn't looking.

"That's what Green Arrow's been telling me with Mirror Master."

* * *

Back in Logan's own dimension, GA was interrogating Mirror Master, whom he just caught, at Belle Reve Penitentiary. The warden in charge was Amanda Waller, who granted Arrow permission to speak to him. "Okay, McCulloch, I want to know which dimension you sent Logan too!" he exclaimed, punching his fist into the wall. "If you lie to me, I swear I'll knock you into next Tuesday!"

"O-Okay, GA, just chill," said Mirror Master. "I honestly don't know where I sent him. I can't access my tech since Waller has it in confiscated goods. You're better off asking either Raven or Flash. They might know where he is." GA continued to glare at him until he wet himself.

"Thanks for the tip. I'll ask them both. As for you, you might want to get that suit in the laundry." With that, Green Arrow left Belle Reve in search of Raven. Before he got too far, he stopped, knowing that someone was around. "Okay, Roy, you can come out now. I'm in no mood for games."

Not too soon, a figure stepped out, wearing a red sleeveless shirt, red pants, red boots, and two quivers, one on his back and the other on his belt. He also wore a baseball hat and his arms hat tattoos on them. "You in a bad mood?" asked Roy. "Wow. That's a shock."

"What are you doing here?"

"I figured you were looking for Raven and thought you could use some help. Speedy's still new to this, so she won't be of much help; Dick's dead; Jason doesn't care; and Star wants to stay out of contact with her old teammates. Which essentially means…" he began.

"…Which essentially means I still have other people to help me out."

"Well gee, sorry for trying to get back in the Arrow family." This caused Ollie to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, Roy, it's just that I was worried about a friend of mine who helped Nightwing save me from Abstergo. As for your membership in the Arrow family, it's still valid until I cancel it. And you know that there is no way I'd kick out my former partner, right? You're the original Speedy."

"Thanks, Ollie, but I don't think you'd want me to train the current one. I'm a bad influence." The two of them laughed it off with GA lightly punching Roy in the arm.

"I guess I can still have you as a partner once in a while…Arsenal," said Ollie. The two exchanged fist bumps and went off to search for Raven.

* * *

Back in Arrow's universe, the four heroes made it back to the hideout. Logan was recovering from the sucker punch that Trickster threw. "I hope one of you planted a tracer," said Diggle, looking at Logan, Arrow, and Arsenal specifically. Oliver smirked. "You did, didn't you?"

"You better believe it. Prankster's at the old Fun Time Factory, using it as a hideout," he said, pointing at the screen. "If we catch him there, we might be able to find out what else we stole. If there isn't anything else, we can take him right then and there."

"That sounds like a plan, but what if it's booby-trapped?" Felicity asked.

"We'll need someone to spring the traps." They looked at Arsenal, Logan, and Flash. Logan shook his head in disbelief that he'd have to do this with Roy and Barry.

"Do you guys have straws?" he asked. Diggle reached into the drawer and dug out a couple of straws. He gave them to Logan, who cut the end off on one of the straws. "Alright, you two, whoever gets the shortest straw has to spring the trap." They all drew and checked their straws. It turns out that Logan got the shortest straw. "Just my luck…" Arsenal lightly punched him on the shoulder while Flash patted his back. "How far is it, Oliver?"

"The factory's about 5 miles south of Queen Consolidated. It's been abandoned for years, though."

"That's what makes it the perfect hideout for him. Reminds me too much of…" Logan said, drifting off. Felicity and Oliver looked at him, waiting for him to finish. "Never mind. I don't want to get too much into it. I have an idea for the traps to be used on themselves, but I'll need a toy car."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ollie and Roy were searching by Arrow Car for Raven. They still hadn't come across anything yet when they received a radio transmission. _"Watchtower to Green Arrow,"_ said a voice.

"This is Green Arrow. What's up, Flash?" asked GA.

"_What's up is that I found where Mirror Master sent your pal. It looks like he's teaming up with alternate dimension counterparts to you, me, and Roy. J'onn will bring you up here while I get the coordinates on the Cosmic Treadmill set up."_

"Alright, Barry. We'll be there in a sec." With that, the Arrow Car and its passengers were beamed up to the Watchtower, which was a giant space station with high-tech equipment. It included a holographic map of the world and a place for the _Javelins_ among other things. Ollie and Roy made their way to the Cosmic Treadmill, where the Flash, who was dressed similarly to the one Logan was working with, except his gloves and boots were yellow. "Are the coordinates plugged in?"

"Almost…got it!" he said. Flash zoomed onto the treadmill as Roy activated it. "See, you guys didn't need Raven for this one."

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to get back?" Arsenal asked.

"Simple. You guys aren't going there. I'm bringing him here." This worried Ollie since the Watchtower's alarm system would activate, given that Logan wasn't a Leaguer. He tried to warn Flash about this, but the speedster ignored it and started running.

* * *

Back in Arrow's universe, Logan got a toy car ready. He used a reflector knife that had four mirrors on it, similar to one of Green Arrows trick arrows. He got the remote control ready and drove the car carefully into the hideout. They knew that Trickster wasn't going to be there, so they decided to spring the traps instead. He pushed a button on the controller, which raised the reflector knife to where the infrared lasers hit the mirrors. Soon, all the lasers fired, reflected off the mirrors, and one of them hit the generator, frying it. "Okay, we're clear," he said.

As they were entering, Logan felt a strange force pull on him. Arrow noticed him stop. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Logan shook off the gravitational force, unknowingly giving his world's Flash a harder time. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got this feeling that some weird force was trying to make me go on another dimensional trip."

"That might be Green Arrow and his friends trying to get you back to your own dimension somehow." Arrow's conclusion surprised Logan. "You disarmed the booby traps. We'll take care of the Trickster from here. You might be needed in your own world. Where are you stationed at?"

"I'm stationed at St. Louis. That might be a good place to look for my counterpart in this world…if I have one. I'll see you guys later." Suddenly, Logan let the gravitational force pull him through.

"Aww, just when I was starting to get along with him," quipped Arsenal. Arrow and Flash smirked.

* * *

Back at the Watchtower in the main universe, the Flash was running as fast as he could. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed and Logan appeared, his body meeting cold metal. He shook his head a little before looking up. His vision was refocusing when he saw a green blur in front of him. "…Logan, if you can hear me, answer this question: how many fingers am I holding up?" asked a voice. Logan knew it was Green Arrow. He also recognized Flash, but he had no idea who the third figure was, having not met him before.

"You're holding up two, Ollie," he answered. "Who's the guy with the tattoos and ball cap?"

"The name's Arsenal. I'm the original Speedy," Roy answered. Suddenly, he got punched hard on the right cheek by the Assassin and knocked on the floor. "What'd you go and do that for?"

"Your counterpart did this to me when I first met him," Logan answered, pointing at the mark he got from getting slammed by the other Arsenal's bow. "I figured I'd return the favor."

"We've got to get you back to St. Louis to rest up. You must've had an interesting day," said GA.

"Interesting is an understatement. Arsenal and Flash's counterparts have the same names, but yours just calls himself Arrow as opposed to Green Arrow."

"Is that right? Is sounds like I'll have to meet him."

* * *

Back in Arrow's universe, he, Flash, and Arsenal were waiting to ambush Trickster. Roy had already informed Felicity and Diggle about Logan returning to his dimension. Suddenly, Jesse entered the building with a sack full of diamonds. "Oh yes," he said. "This'll go great in my collection."

"Actually, it belongs in the jewelry store," said Flash. "As for you, James, there's always room for one more at Belle Reve." Before Trickster could do anything, Flash caught him in a whirlwind and spun him up into Arrow and Arsenal's range. They each fired a trick arrow, which turned out to be the infamous boxing glove arrow, and hit the crazy clown in the head, knocking him out. "Nice shot, guys."

Afterwards, the Trickster was sent back to prison where he belonged. "I suppose I better get out of your hair, guys. I'll head to St. Louis to find our world's version of Logan. If I can't find him, oh well," said Barry.

"Just be careful, Barry. Remember that there are a lot of criminals who want our heads on a platter," Oliver said. Barry nodded before running off to St. Louis. "That kid better be careful. He is just a kid after all."

"And I suppose you're an adult compared to him?" asked Roy.

"And you."

CHAPTER 1 END

* * *

**Now remember: just because I put 'Chapter 1 End' doesn't mean that all the chapters are connected. It's more of a **_**Batman: The Brave and The Bold**_** type of story focusing on Logan teaming up with DC heroes, but more serious. Sorry if this wasn't a good start. It's the first time I've worked with DC Comics characters since 'Symbios-Issues' and the first time I had characters from **_**Arrow**_** in one of my stories as well. If you're interested and you like Logan, let me know who you want teamed up with him and who the villain of the chapter you want them to face is. This includes anti-heroes like Catwoman and Red Hood (the latter he'll take a major issue with due to Jason's violent nature), but not the villains unless they're desparate.**

**Also, this is set after the events of **_**Flashpoint**_**, so technically, Roy never took the identity of Red Arrow, he still has his right arm, he, Starfire, and Red Hood are the Outlaws, and he is unaware that Dick Grayson is still alive, but working undercover for Batman at Spyral after his identity as Nightwing is revealed. There's also the fact that Damian Wayne is dead, Batman took on a new apprentice (Harper Row/Bluebird), and Tim Drake is Red Robin. Just making sure that you're up to speed on the comics.**


	2. Outlaws

**Outlaws**

St. Louis was peaceful today, which was a first in a while. Everyone was running around and enjoying themselves, playing Tackle Football, flying their kites, or just hanging out and lying on the grass. In a nearby parking garage, Logan was making some last-minute adjustments to his motorcycle to finish some fine-tuning while Cammy sat by and watched. They had the radio playing 'Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd in the process. "How much longer 'til it's done?" she asked. "I'd like to go on a ride while I have some time off."

Logan knew Cammy long enough to know she was joking around. Luckily, she timed the question just right. "It's done now. Hop on." Cammy did as instructed, getting behind Logan, putting on a helmet, and wrapping her arms around his torso. They rode the bike out of the parking garage and onto the street. Logan was testing the handling more than he was the speed on account of the speed limits on the street. They went to the highway to really test it out and, needless to say, Cammy was having the time of her life. "Having fun?" he asked.

"I'm having a blast, darling!" she answered. He looked on his radar and saw that there was an alert tipped off. They rode to an alleyway and saw that it was a three-way fight. Two rival gangs were fighting each other as well as three other individuals. Logan recognized one of them as Roy Harper, aka Arsenal. He also saw that his accomplices were a vigilante in a red helmet and street clothes and a red-headed girl whose outfit was showing a bit too much skin. He also noticed something else about the girl: her eyes were glowing green and she was firing green energy blasts at the gang members. "Well this certainly puts a damper on our day."

"Yep. Let's go." The trio defeated the gangs, but before the one in the helmet could deliver the killing blow, he got kicked to the side. Roy and the girl looked and saw who kicked their friend.

"Oh, why you?" asked Arsenal.

"You know him?" asked the guy in the helmet. Roy didn't answer, instead attacking Logan and Cammy alongside the girl. She and Cammy were preoccupied with taking each other down, leaving Logan to deal with Arsenal and the other vigilante. The former Speedy took out a couple of tonfas and attacked the Assassin with them just as his friend was getting up. Before Harper could get even one hit in, Logan grabbed his wrist, elbowed his armpit, and kneed him in the stomach before kicking him to a wall. Luckily, he did it in time to throw some trick knives to counter three shuriken that were thrown at him by the other vigilante.

Cammy wasn't having such a good time against her own opponent. The obviously alien girl wouldn't let her get close with her Cannon Spike and Spiral Arrow techniques. The girl flew into the air and fired energy beams from her eyes. Cammy grabbed a trash can lid to deflect it back at the girl. She hit her and caused her to fall to the ground. The Delta Red soldier threw the can at her foe and knocked her out. She looked and saw that Logan was having a hard time against the helmet-covered vigilante while Roy was getting up and ready to attack him. She tripped the ex-archer up with a Spiral Arrow and knocked him out as well. The Vigilante saw that both of his teammates were down, so he threw down a few smoke pellets and escaped with both of them and a truck. "Does this kind of thing happen all the time?" Cammy asked.

"Nope," said Logan. "Normally, I take the troublemakers to the cops. However, I think we're going to need some help with this one."

* * *

After the couple got back to the den, Logan let Cammy lie down on the couch while he made a call. Cammy was truly curious when he said that he wasn't going to call Bill this time. He punched in the number to the Arrow Cave but he got no answer. "That stinks. Ollie really needs to make sure the phone numbers on the Arrow Cave and the car are the same one. I don't even have the number to the car or his cell and I can't call Grayson," he said. "I guess the only thing to do is to contact the Watchtower. Though I don't know how they'll react to an Assassin calling them."

"Before you do, honey, what are we dealing with that you had to try Green Arrow first?" Cammy asked tiredly. Logan pulled up the pictures of the people they fought earlier.

"The three individuals we fought today were Jason Todd, Roy Harper, and Koriand'r. Jason was the second Robin after Dick Grayson took the Nightwing mantle, but was killed by the Joker. After which, the League of Shadows' head honcho, Ra's al Ghul, resurrected him using the Lazarus Pits. Jason escaped, then took Joker's former identity of the Red Hood. As the Joker would put it, his was more 'flashy maitre'd than motorcycle fetish'," he said, comparing the two pictures of the Hoods. Cammy looked at Jason's and then at Joker's, which had the signature purple suit, but with a red bucket and cape.

"I'm going to guess that Joker has had that purple suit look this whole time."

"Yeah, he did. He had the Red Hood identity before Batman caused him to fall into a vat at the Ace Chemicals building in Gotham. It bleached his skin and caused him to lose his sanity, which is why he always winds up at Arkham Asylum as opposed to Blackgate Prison. The guy with the ball cap is Roy Harper, the original Speedy. After having a falling out with Green Arrow, Roy tried to commit suicide by picking a fight with Killer Croc. After a pep talk from Croc, he began a rehab session and eventually took up the moniker Arsenal."

"I'd say that's an appropriate name for him given that his quivers had crossbow bolts and he had those tonfas."

"That's not all. Sure, Roy still uses the same equipment that he used as Speedy, but he's got a lot of weapons. These include sniper rifles, rocket launchers, LexCorp-made detonation cords, the whole nine yards."

"What about the girl?"

"Koriand'r is from a planet called Tamaran. On Earth, her name means 'Starfire' and she's been using that codename ever since she met Dick Grayson and the other Titans. Even after her breakup with Dick, she continued to use it as her codename. I don't know why she would work with someone like Jason, though."

"It might not be because of Jason. Instead, it might be because of Arsenal. While he was Speedy, he did resemble Grayson's Robin look a bit. Maybe that's why Starfire's with that group," Cammy suggested.

"True. Dick also said he had a weakness for redheads and that's what Starfire is." After that, he pushed the call button to reach the Watchtower. Seconds later, a humanoid alien with green skin appeared on the screen. He had a blue cape, a red 'X' pattern on his chest, and blue pants.

"_You are not authorized to use this channel. State your reason for contacting us,"_ said the alien.

"We're in need of a Justice Leaguer and Green Arrow's unavailable."

"_If you can tell me the problem, I'll send the proper Leaguer to help you."_

"What we're dealing with are the Red Hood and his Outlaws," stated Cammy. The alien had a contemplating look on his face.

"_Hmm…I see. We're stretched a little thin at the moment, but I'll see who the next appropriate choice would be."_ The alien looked on a computer screen and saw the details of every Leaguer in the databanks. _"You have three choices, one of which isn't even a member of the Justice League: Red Robin, a Green Lantern, or Wildcat."_

"Which Green Lantern is it?" Logan asked.

"_Guy Gardner,"_ answered the alien.

"Pass. I think we'll go with Red Robin. I trained with Wildcat and I don't want him to get hurt."

"_With Wildcat's age and Gardner's temper, Red Robin is the best choice. I'll send him your way. Let me know if you need another Leaguer to help out again."_ After they hung up, Cammy looked at Logan with a serious expression.

"Why didn't you pick the Green Lantern?"

"If it was Hal Jordan, John Stewart, or Kyle Rayner, I would have. I didn't pick Gardner because he's arrogant, short-tempered, hotheaded, and an all-around loudmouth."

"That reminds me of Rufus," said Cammy.

* * *

The Outlaws set up shop at an old motel with a good view of the city. At the time, they were recovering from their fight against Logan and Cammy. While Starfire wasn't mad in any sense of the word, Roy was ticked that he'd have to fight one of Ollie's friends while Jason was furious at the fact that Logan reminded all of them of his predecessor. Star and Roy didn't notice it, though. "I can't believe St. Louis has its own vigilante hero and you know it, Roy!" he shouted.

"Yeah, of course I know it. This is the kid who helped Nightwing rescue GA from the Templars in Karakura Town. Ever since then, Ollie's been trying to get the League to trust him." Roy's explanation did nothing to quell Jason's anger.

"Was this before or after Dick's identity was revealed?" Starfire asked.

"It was before. At the time, the only ones who knew of his identity as both Robin and Nightwing were him, his ex, Batman, Batgirl, Red Robin, Jason, Damien, and Wally. Who among the Titans knew about that besides me and KF?"

"The only other ones who knew of Nightwing's civilian identity were Cyborg and Raven. Beast Boy didn't figure out until he and Red Robin met Impulse." They saw that Jason was looking on his computer for another thing they could do to get Logan and Cammy's attention. Since Jason had his helmet off, they could see his face, including the domino mask he wore as Robin. The archer and the alien saw that he had an interested look before turning it into a smirk.

"Check this out, guys. Big time crime boss Steven Mandragora has set up shop here in St. Louis. If we can cause enough of a ruckus, then that Assassin and his girlfriend will come to us. They'll have their hands full with his gang and that can give Roy a clear shot," said the ex-Robin. Roy closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's up, Roy? Don't tell me you're going to back out of this one."

"We may have reconciled a little bit, but I still feel that I'm on Ollie's bad side. This is why I'm not killing anyone and why I was relieved that Logan stopped you from killing that punk, Jason. I'm out of here," he said, causing Starfire to have a concerned look on her face after he left.

"I never said anything about killing them."

* * *

Logan and Cammy waited on the rooftops for Red Robin to appear. Cammy wondered what he looked like considering that even in their relationship, he kept most Bat family secrets a secret. As far as secret identities are concerned, all she knew was that Dick was Nightwing and the original Robin as well as what he told her about Jason. Logan did confirm that Red Robin is indeed a member of the Bat family. A ship flew by and a figure jumped out of it. He wore a uniform that was red on the top and black on the bottom. He had two utility belts crossed in an 'X' pattern joined together by a bird symbol. The cape was black on the outside, as per tradition with all members of the Bat family who wore a cape, but red on the inside. He also wore a domino mask like Jason and Roy.

Cammy looked at Logan, who had a smirk on his face. "This is Robin? I expected some yellow on him and an 'R' on his chest," she said.

"Sorry to disappoint. Don't get me wrong. I was Robin. I still have a strong connection to it even after I had a falling out with Batman, which is why I took the name Red Robin," the vigilante said.

"How is Batman holding up by the way?" asked Logan, getting a smirk from Red Robin.

"He's fine. He has a new partner, but out of respect for the latest one, she didn't take the name Robin. She calls herself Bluebird and she is both permitted and willing to use firearms. That's honestly a first for the family."

"Damn."

"So what kind of issue are you guys dealing with?" Red Robin asked.

"Outlaws," answered Cammy, confusing the hero.

"Jason Todd and his buddies Starfire and Roy Harper are causing us a bit of trouble. With Jason and Starfire being as tough as they are and Roy being very effective at far range, we figured that bringing in some extra help would even the odds. That's where you come in."

"That sounds good to me. Jason needs someone to straighten him out. Are there any crime bosses in the area as well?"

"There is one," said a voice. The three of them looked and saw Arsenal jumping to their roof. "It's Steven Mandragora. He set up shop here in St. Louis for some reason."

"What are you doing here, Harper?"

"I'm here to let you know that Jason's planning some sort of ambush on you two," said the ex-Speedy to Logan and Cammy. "He was going to use Mandragora and his gang to get your attention so I could get a clear shot. I decided to back out of it since Ollie would have my neck if you two got killed. I didn't expect Red Robin to be here."

"Well they had the choice of me, Wildcat, or Guy Gardner. For obvious reasons, they chose me to go up against you Outlaws. I'm sure Jason would understand if you were to take some time off, Roy."

Arsenal just nodded at the suggestion and put his hand on Logan's shoulder. "Thanks for interfering. If it hadn't been for you, Jason would've gotten on a family's bad side." With that, he left the trio.

"…okay."

"Even with Arsenal leaving, the odds are still even. Jason and Starfire can easily fill the gap in this plan," said Red Robin. Logan's alert went off, so he pulled up the screen and saw that a huge commotion was happening.

"I think this is Jason's trap. He and Starfire are fighting Mandragora's gang."

* * *

They got to the commotion and saw Jason smack-talking the gangsters and Mandragora himself, who looked like a fat mobster with a white pinstripe suit and purple shirt underneath. His skin was very pale in comparison to a humanoid being. Jason said a snarky remark which caused the entire gang to attack him. "Can you two handle Jason?" asked Red Robin.

"Take Cammy with you. Starfire's on the building we're behind. I can take Red Hood on my own."

"Are you sure? I don't want to endanger a civilian."

"Take a look at Cammy's uniform. She's a member of Delta Red. She can handle herself, even against Starfire. And I trained with Nightwing after all, so don't worry too much about it." Red Robin and Cammy nodded their heads before Cammy gave Logan a kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck, love," she said while he was blushing. After she grabbed onto Red Robin, he used his grappling hook and brought her to the roof in an instant, surprising Starfire.

* * *

Meanwhile, Logan threw a trick knife with knockout gas, knowing that Red Hood's helmet had a filter in it. He looked, but Logan passed by him with a Flash Step and knocked Mandragora out himself by slamming his face onto his knee and tossing him roughly to the ground. "You know I could've handled myself, right?" Jason asked.

"I know. It just felt good to embarrass a former Robin," said the Assassin. At this, Red Hood got ticked. He leaped into the air to kick Logan to the ground. He dodged it, grabbed his leg, and tossed him to the cans. Jason recovered and saw Logan giving the 'come and get me' sign.

* * *

Starfire heard a sound and saw Red Robin and Cammy on the roof with her. She got her Star Bolts ready in case they were there to fight. "What are you doing here, Red Robin?" she asked. "Did Wonder Girl call for a break?"

"Cute. No, Star, we're here to stop your rampage on the gangs of St. Louis. You guys shouldn't be killing anyone in the process. Roy told us how Jason would've killed one guy had Logan not interfered. Please, you've got to stop this, Star. Let Logan take care of it. Notice that he already knocked out Mandragora and his gang. He's fighting your head honcho right now. Remember that, as a Robin, Jason is technically one of my brothers, the other one being Nightwing."

Hearing Nightwing's name caused Starfire to snap. She attacked Red Robin, but Cammy got in the way, grabbing Star's wrists and sternly glaring into her eyes. "Starfire, you have to listen! I know what made you this way! You're here because of Nightwing! You've had a strong bond with him since his days as Robin, long before Jason even took the mantle! What would he think if he saw one of his best friends working with a homicidal maniac like Jason Todd? Do you think Grayson would forgive you?" asked the Delta Red agent.

"Dick Grayson is dead! He was murdered by the Crime Syndicate! How dare you speak his name to me when I am in grief!" With that, Starfire broke free of Cammy's grip. She flew up into the air, ready for an aerial strike. Red Robin pushed the bird symbol on his chest, causing his cape to retract and a jet pack to activate. Starfire fired lasers from her eyes, but Red Robin maneuvered to avoid them. He threw his birdarangs, but Star destroyed them too. Eventually, Red Robin flew behind her and hit her in the back of the head with an electrified Bo staff. When she recovered, she attacked Cammy, but the blonde woman caught her in her CQC. This put Starfire out of commission due to her rage wearing down her energy.

* * *

Back on the ground, Logan and Red Hood were equally matched, mainly because Logan has decided not to use Flash Step and because he figured using Chidori on the Red Hood would be a waste of energy. Jason charged at him with a knife, but like with Arsenal, Logan grabbed his wrist, elbowed him in the armpit, causing him a massive amount of pain, and shoved him to the ground. Jason did a one-armed push-up and got him off. He charged at the Assassin, but was met with a flying trash can. "Looks like you're a little rusty, Hood," Logan said.

"I'm just having an off day thanks to you!" shouted Jason, charging at his opponent again. Logan used both of his hands to smack both sides of Red Hood's helmet hard enough for him to feel the impact. He jumped off of Jason's shoulders and high into the air, much to Red Robin's shock.

"Skydive Assault!" he exclaimed. He shot like a rocket down to Jason's spot just as he was recovering. The result was a Jason Todd-sized crater and an awakened Steven Mandragora. Red Robin threw a birdarang at a chain holding a metal container big enough to fit the crime boss in. The container trapped Mandragora, who couldn't break out easily. "Thanks for saving me the trouble, Red Robin."

"That's for showing that awesome move," said Red Robin. "I'm afraid that Starfire and Red Hood are Justice League priority. As for Arsenal, he's just Green Arrow's priority. I'll take these two to the Watchtower and put them in a good cell, mainly for Starfire's sake." Logan and Cammy nodded. "J'onn, I have a special delivery for the Watchtower's holding cells." After that, Red Robin was teleported to the Watchtower along with Jason and Starfire.

"Well, that's that. Now we can get back to our date," said Logan.

"And I know a good place to finish it. I hope we get to work with Red Robin again," Cammy said.

"Same here. I think I'm starting to get used to working with Arsenal as well." As they were talking, Arsenal smiled at the whole scene.

"Good job, Logan. Same to you, Tim. Maybe Ollie was right to trust you," he said silently.

CHAPTER 2 END

* * *

**For those of you who don't know, Red Robin's civilian identity is Tim Drake, a.k.a. Robin III. Jason Todd is the Red Hood, but I'm sure most of you know that. And in the New 52, Roy Harper never lost his arm, never had a daughter or married Cheshire, or took the name Red Arrow. That codename went to Earth 2's Connor Hawke, or as I liked to call him before the New 52 started, Green Arrow Jr. due to him being Ollie's son.**

**I got a request from a home state friend of mine asking me to include an OC of his due to the fact that he has a crush on Miss Martian (yes, I'm including elements from **_**Young Justice**_** in this as well). I killed off this guy's other OC Sonny Seconds/Blur by having him get killed by Yukon McSleez's missiles in 'Symbios-Issues', so he told me not to kill this one off this time. Also, since elements from **_**Young Justice**_** are being included, you won't see Wally West in this, but Bart Allen's still Impulse. However, since this is set in the New 52, if I use Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, or Kendra Saunders, they'll be from Earth 2.**


	3. Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt 1

**Okay, this chapter takes place on Earth 2 with no focus on Logan, but he will be the main focus along with Hal and a new one I'm bringing in for my friend from my home state in the next chapter. In fact, the focus is on the new OC.**

* * *

**Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt. 1**

In an alternate universe, everything was being rebuilt after a destructive war with an alien world. The lives of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the original Batman have all been lost. To this day, many civilians honor their deaths by placing flowers on their graves, saluting their statues, etc. Some wonder how Batman is still alive since they saw him get killed by one of the aliens while others knew it was someone else wearing the cape and cowl. This story doesn't focus on the new Batman, though. This focuses on someone entirely different.

At a Star Labs in Coast City, a clumsy janitor was mopping the floor in the hallway. This janitor was a slim-built young man with messy brown hair and wears glasses all the time. His name is Nathaniel Dement, and what makes him so clumsy is that he's in the wrong place at the wrong time. As he was mopping, he turned and bumped into the boss, causing him to spill water on his shoes. "Mr. Johnson! I am so sorry about that! Let me clean that up for you!" Nathaniel said. Mr. Johnson was an elderly bald man in a business suit.

"No, it's alright, Nathaniel. You just need to watch yourself better. You may be clumsy, but you can certainly leave a place nice and clean. Not bad," said Mr. Johnson. "Nathaniel, do you mind closing up for the night? I have to get back to my wife at home. It's our anniversary and I don't want to be late."

"Yes sir, Mr. Johnson."

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the city, a figure wearing a uniform consisting of a red-and-blue shirt with a gold lightning bolt on it, blue pants, and a helmet with wings that covered his eyes, was running around on patrol at high speeds. He already had to stop 5 bank robberies and 3 would-be arsonists before they could even get started. This was the Flash, but it wasn't Barry Allen. This Flash was Jay Garrick, a former football player whose speed was granted to him by the dying Olympian God Mercury. Mercury left him a message: to watch out for a dark force that was coming and to trust no one.

As mentioned before, he was running around patrolling the city looking for enemies to take down. He had a teammate help out as well with a bird's eye view of the city: the Green Lantern. "I've got nothing on my end. What about you, Alan?" asked the Flash over a comlink.

"Negative, Jay. I've got nothing," Green Lantern said. As his superhero alter ego, the Green Lantern was covered in green energy. He had the powers given to him by The Green, a natural force representing life. His real name was Alan Scott, whose boyfriend Sam was killed in a train wreck that would've killed him had he not been protected by The Green. Since then, he was given the power to avenge Sam and protect the world. The direct source of his power was the engagement ring he had that became a power ring.

As Green Lantern was about to descend to the ground, a dark figure jumped across the rooftops chasing a world renowned perpetrator. The figure was dressed in a gray uniform with the center being an even darker gray. He wore a red utility belt and the bat symbol on his chest was just as red. The symbol, along with the cape and cowl, which had red eyes, made it obvious that this was the new Batman. He tossed a batarang hitting the criminal and knocking him out. "Batman?" asked Green Lantern. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

Back at Star Labs, Nathaniel was finishing up cleaning. He looked in one of the labs out of curiosity when he saw one of the scientists going through a wall. He knew he didn't have access to this particular lab, but he was curious as to what was going on. He got out a bobby pin and screwdriver and proceeded to unlock the door. After a few tries, he finally manages to get it unlocked. He opened the door and saw no sign of the scientist anywhere. "Hello?" he called. There was no answer. He looked on a computer showing a file that the scientist failed to close down. He read the file, but couldn't make head or tails of it. He looked at the testing area and saw a grey ring. Once again, curiosity got the better of him and he cautiously moved towards the ring, unaware that someone—or something—was watching him. As he got closer, the ring started to resonate with a grey glow before slipping itself onto his right ring finger.

As he was being covered in a grey glow similar to Green Lantern's, he heard a disembodied voice speaking to him. _'Nathaniel Dement, you have been chosen by the ring because you have great power,'_ said the voice.

"Great power?" asked Nathaniel. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you mean picking the lock on the door, I wouldn't consider that great power. I was just curious, that's all. That's why I did that."

'_Curious or not, you have been chosen to represent the force known as The Grey. You must face the agent of our enemy, The Green. He and his allies continue to impede our progress. This was made especially apparent when he sent our other agent to Earth's Moon.'_

"I'm going to guess that you won't let me say no."

'_That is correct, Nathaniel Dement._'

"Curse my curiosity. I guess I might as well."

'_That's as good an answer as I'm going to get. Your first foes meet in the city. Lock the building up and look for them. The Green's Agent is among them.'_

* * *

Nathaniel did as instructed and locked the building up before encasing himself back in the grey glow. He flew towards where the ring was taking him. There he came across a meeting of Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl, who was a dark-skinned woman with white wings, blue pants with a black stripe going down the leg, and a matching shirt. She also had a blue visor helmet similar to the Flash's, but without the wings. She carried a mace on her waist. Nathaniel couldn't quite figure out why the ring brought him there until he noticed that Green Lantern had the same glow.

Lantern's ring started glowing, telling them that an agent of The Grey was near. He turned around and saw Nathaniel floating above them. "Oh great," Alan said. "Don't tell me that The Grey have a Grey Lantern now."

"Whatever the case may be, Lantern, it's crucial we take him down." Alan nodded and flew with Hawkgirl towards Nathaniel, who readied his ring. As Hawkgirl attacked with her mace, he dodged and aimed his ring towards the duo, not taking Batman into account. The Dark Knight threw a Bat Grenade at the Grey's Agent while he wasn't looking. This sent him flying towards the Flash, who spun his fist and punched him towards Green Lantern. Alan charged up a blast, prompting Nathaniel to put up a shield and brace for impact.

The surge from Alan's ring sent Nathaniel a good distance, making him hit a building. He decided that now was the time for a counterattack and figured he could take out Hawkgirl and Green Lantern. He saw Flash and Batman as his main troubles despite this Batman being older than the last one. He focused on the ring to see if he could make constructs from his energy. He got an energy turret on his arm and aimed it at the Flash, who was running towards him getting another punch ready. He fired the turrets and hit the Speed Demon, causing him to crash. He went up into the air and aimed his blaster at Hawkgirl, who was coming at him with her mace again. He hit her wings and caused her to crash near Flash.

Nathaniel looked around, but there was no sign of Green Lantern or Batman. He turned around, but before he could even aim the construct, Alan had punched him in the face while Batman used a grappling hook on him to bring him down. Not too soon after that, the janitor-turned-Lantern's-enemy broke free of Batman's line, grabbed him using the power he had from The Grey, and tossed him towards Alan. He then charged up an energy attack, but Alan fired off a barrage of shots, making him lose his concentration. Afterwards, he was caught in a windstorm caused by the Flash.

This windstorm eventually got him in Hawkgirl's range. She gave him a couple of solid hits with her mace, but he grabbed her wrist and head-butted her, which was then followed by a kick. Green Lantern slammed Nathaniel with a bat and sent him flying towards a building. When he got close to the ground, he was getting punched repeatedly by the Flash. Nathaniel got tired of it and kicked Jay back before making a strategic retreat, knowing that he couldn't beat them right now. "Who was that guy?" asked Alan.

"I don't know, but it was obvious he was new to all of this," answered Jay.

"Well for a greenhorn, he didn't do too badly," Hawkgirl commented before turning towards Batman. "That is the correct term, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it is," the Dark Knight answered.

* * *

Back with Nathaniel, he found a safe spot to recover and replenish his energy. Since he hasn't gotten much exercise in the muscle department, his pulse was beating rapidly. He had never gotten this kind of workout before and it was about to kill him for two reasons: 1) his poor health; and 2) he knew about this Batman's willingness to kill when necessary. When he thought of it, the one thing he had to fear was a common one for all enemies of any hero and that is Batman himself. It didn't matter who was wearing the cowl. _'Why did you run?'_ asked the voice from earlier.

"I…kind of…had…no other…choice. Batman…would've…killed me," Nathaniel answered, breathing heavily.

'_Ah, so it's not The Green's agent that you're afraid of. It's the Batman. At least you don't fear our true enemy. Our other agent is named Grundy. He is a zombie who will aid anyone associated with The Green. Let him deal with Batman while you take care of the Green's avatar.'_ Nathaniel nodded and went underground to rest and recover while waiting for Grundy.

* * *

In the meantime, Batman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Flash were searching for him in hopes of finding out his identity. So far, there had been no sign of him. This was irritating Alan, who wanted to get this over with. "Any luck, guys?" he asked.

"_Sorry, Lantern, no luck here,"_ said Hawkgirl.

"_Same here,"_ Flash said.

"_Batman?"_ asked Green Lantern.

"Not in the whole finding him department, but I did find something about him," said Batman.

"_Well anything's good, Bats,"_ Jay said.

"It turns out that our 'Grey Lantern' is actually a janitor at Star Labs named Nathaniel Dement. He wasn't just new to using the ring; he hasn't even fought an ordinary human before, much less take on one plus three super-powered beings."

"_So what you're saying is that we're basically dealing with a kid, is that it?"_ Lantern asked.

"I'm afraid so." Green Lantern growled at this until his ring started resonating.

"Guys, I think I have a lock on him. It feels like he's with someone else."

* * *

Back underground, Nathaniel had fully recovered his strength thanks to the ring. He traveled among the sewers to avoid detection from the heroes, but he knew that the Green Lantern could find him. When he made it to a larger part of it, he saw a zombie with two sashes in an 'X' pattern across his torso and torn pants. His back had a couple of blades sticking out of it. "You Grey's new agent. Me Grundy," he said, introducing himself.

"Then you must be the agent that the Grey was talking about," said Nathaniel. Grundy nodded before the new agent continued. "I came across a little problem while I was facing Green Lantern. His friends, the Flash, Hawkgirl, and Batman, were here as well. I can maybe handle Hawkgirl and Green Lantern on my own, but I need help with Flash and Batman."

"Grundy take care of them. You focus on Lantern."

* * *

Back on the surface, the four heroes found the lid to the sewers that Nathaniel had went through. They tried to open it, but they found out quickly that he had welded it shut. Not even Lantern and Batman could remove it and they were the strongest out of all of them. "Damn. He welded it tight," said Alan. His ring started resonating again. "Then again, I don't think we need to go there. Take a look." The other heroes saw that Grundy was approaching them.

"I guess you three had to deal with him before?" asked Batman.

"You got it, Batman." Before Lantern and Hawkgirl could move, they were slung into the air. They looked and saw that Nathaniel had recovered. Lantern started the fight by firing energy blasts, which Nathaniel countered with a shield. Hawkgirl followed up by hitting the shield and sending him to the street. Before he hit the pavement, though, he recovered and flew up to Alan with a bat construct ready to hit him. Alan cut the bat with a sword construct, which Hawkgirl followed up with an attack of her own. Nathaniel got out of the way this time, grabbed her, and sent her plummeting down to the ground, knocking her out cold.

Flash saw what happened, but he and Batman were occupied with Grundy at the moment. The zombie stomped his foot on the ground and caused some hands to appear and grab the two heroes by their ankles. Due to his speed, Flash was able to kick the hands on his ankles off and charge for Grundy. He kept pelting the Grey's agent with rapid punches until he had enough. Grundy was finally able to slam the speedster with his arm and send him flying towards a car, knocking him unconscious for a bit. He looked back at Batman's position to find he wasn't there. He looked up, only to have the Dark Knight kick him in the face. Batman sent a couple of batarangs at him. Grundy blocked it, only to have them explode on his arm.

Back in the air, Nathaniel and Alan were keeping up with each other, which was an improvement on the former's part considering that he had a tougher time keeping up with him earlier (due to also having to deal with Flash, Hawkgirl, and Batman). Right now, the two were clashing swords with Alan trying to reach out to him. "Nathaniel, I know it's you. Why are you working for The Grey?" he asked.

"They said I had great potential. I have no other choice, Green Lantern!" Nathaniel exclaimed, pushing Lantern back. "One minute I'm curious enough to pick a lock on a door because I see some scientist going through a wall. The next, I'm wearing a grey version of what you wear."

"So that's it? The Grey is just using you, kid. You've got to snap out of it!"

"Actually…I kind of like this power. Sure, we're enemies, but it doesn't change my view about it. By the way, who told you my name? I don't ever recall mentioning it?" It was then that it dawned on him. "Batman," he said.

"Well before you get to Batman, you'll have to deal with me!" Alan exclaimed, hitting Nathaniel with a hammer.

Back on the ground, Batman was doing his best to keep dodging Grundy, but he was just worn down. Grundy finally grabbed him, but the Flash woke up and saw what was happening. He knew Hawkgirl was safe for now, so he rushed up and slammed Grundy hard in the back, causing him to drop the Dark Knight and go a good distance. Grundy got angry and charged back at the Flash, but the speedster spun around him fast enough to create a cyclone. Batman had enough strength for one more move, and then he'd have to call it a night. He used it to throw a bat grenade and hit the Grey's agent dead on. This, combined with a power-packed punch from the Flash, knocked him out cold. Flash then looked at the Dark Knight with concern. "Batman, are you alright?" the speed demon asked.

"I'm fine. Go check on Hawkgirl," he said. Flash gave him a nod and set him on a bench before going to check on his winged companion.

Up in the air, Nathaniel created a couple of giant hands with his ring to smash Green Lantern, but he picked bad timing for it. Alan fired an energy blast that sent him flying away and made him lose focus. He knew they wouldn't be seeing Nathaniel for a while. It still pained him to know that he'd have to do that to a kid, much less a kid associated with The Grey. He descended to the bench that Batman was sitting on just as Flash brought Hawkgirl there. "What happened to the kid?" Flash asked.

"I sent him flying. It's a shame. A little curiosity and he comes across that power. If only we weren't enemies, he'd make a good teammate," answered Green Lantern.

"That is a shame."

"Where's Grundy?"

"We took care of him. Hopefully, he dies on a Saturday and gets buried on Sunday," answered Batman. As Jay carried Hawkgirl, Alan used his ring to carry Batman. The heroes then made their way to show the Dark Knight their shared base.

* * *

Green Lantern had sent Nathaniel to a cemetery outside of Gotham City. Once he recovered, he looked around and started freaking out. He used his ring as a flashlight and was spooked by the gargoyles and tombstones in the cemetery. He came across two that interested him. One of them read 'Here Lies Sam Zhao: a Good Man and a Good Friend.' The other read 'Batman: Feared by Many, Loved by Many More.' "Sam Zhao?" he asked himself. "Green Lantern must've sent me here on purpose. I might be crazy, but he might be Alan Scott. He was Sam's lover and one of the few survivors of that train wreck in China. But who was Batman?" he wondered as he looked at the original Batman's statue.

The tombstone was actually a tomb itself. He opened the door to it and went inside. He saw a black coffin with the original Batman's insignia on it. "Maybe this will tell me who the current Batman is." He opened up the coffin and saw the dead Dark Knight lying peacefully in the coffin. The body was preserved, so no bone was showing. He lifted the cowl from over his face, only to get the shock of a lifetime. "No way," he said, astonished. "The original Batman…was Bruce Wayne?"

'_Nathaniel Dement,'_ said the voice inside the ring. _'I see that you're up.'_

"Yeah, after Green Lantern sent me here."

'_It seems you will need more training. Your curiosity has allowed you to discover the identity of the original Batman of this world. That is most impressive.'_

"I shouldn't have opened this tomb. I have to put the cowl back on and close the lid and the door before Batman or someone else discovers what happened."

'_After you do that, I'm sending you to a parallel Earth for your training with the ring. You should get enough practice in.'_ Nathaniel nodded at the suggestion. He put the cowl back over Bruce's face, closed the coffin, closed the door and was teleported to the parallel Earth that the voice was talking about.

* * *

On Earth Prime, Nathaniel arrived there with a flash of light. It was daytime and he saw that he was in their version of Coast City. "Uh, weird voice of the ring?" he asked. "If this is the parallel Earth you talked about, it looks a lot better than mine."

TO BE CONTINUED…

CHAPTER 3 END

* * *

**Okay, so that was the part that introduced not only my buddy's OC Nathaniel Dement and got him on the path to becoming the Silver Lantern, but it also brought in Earth 2's Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders), and Batman II (Thomas Wayne). The next part is going to feature Logan teaming up with the Green Lantern Corp's own Hal Jordan and complete Nathaniel's path to becoming the said Silver Lantern.**

**More New 52 facts: I revealed the identities and backstories of Earth 2's Flash and Green Lantern for you. Kendra Saunders is an archaeologist who became the Hawkgirl of Earth 2 after having a pair of wings grafted onto her back during an expedition. Also on Earth 2, Thomas Wayne was revealed to be alive, but played dead so that Bruce could mature (Martha still died, though). Once Bruce found out, he disowned him. This didn't stop Thomas from trying to reconnect with the family, even with his granddaughter Helena, who became Bruce's Robin until she and their world's Supergirl got sent to Earth Prime, in which case, they became Huntress and Power Girl respectively. Helena even uses the surname Bertinelli while the real one is working with Dick Grayson at Spyral.**

**Sorry if I'm wasting your time with this info, but other than Dick's costume as Nightwing (wish they had stuck with the blue bird), I'm pretty fond of the New 52.**


	4. Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt 2

**Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt. 2**

Logan had just arrived in Coast City upon request of the Justice League. He knew that something was up ever since he and Cammy called the Watchtower for help to deal with the Outlaws. He was waiting for the reason they called him when there was a commotion downtown. The sky was dark, so when he got there, it was the perfect setting for this enemy. It was a zombie with white hair on his head wearing torn black clothes, knives on his back, and a noose around his neck. The zombie was a good size as well. "Look, pal, I don't know who you're trying to fool, but Halloween's not for a while," the Assassin said, getting the zombie's attention.

The undead man leapt and tried to tackle Logan, but he used the Flash Step to move out of the way. He left a bomb, which exploded under the zombie and caused him to fall on the ground. Logan went to see if he could grab the 'mask' off of him, but the zombie smacked him away. The zombie charged towards him, but ran face-first into a brick wall. Logan saw that the wall was a green construct. He looked up and saw a man in a green aura wearing a black uniform with a green top, green domino mask, and white gloves and boots. His hair was brown and combed to the right. He recognized the insignia on his chest as that of a Green Lantern. "Thanks for the save," he said.

"No problem. I'll tell you who this guy is after we beat him. For right now, I need your help to take him down," the Lantern said, getting a nod from Logan. "I will tell you this: he's a genuine zombie."

"You're joking, right?" the Green Lantern looked at him with a stoic look on his face. "Oh, you're serious." He gathered up energy for a special move that he hasn't had to use around a Justice Leaguer yet. "Chidori…Shoryuken!" he exclaimed, punching the zombie twice in the face before doing the signature uppercut. The Green Lantern made a large hammer construct and hit him back down, knocking him out. "Okay, Lantern, who was that?"

"His name from when he was still alive was Cyrus Gold. He was a mob boss and the worst of the worst. One day, the people killed him, but he was eventually resurrected as a zombie. His name now is Solomon Grundy."

"As in the old nursery rhyme?" asked Logan. The Lantern nodded.

"I know you have knowledge of the different Lantern Corps. The name's Hal Jordan, one of the 5 Green Lanterns of Sector 2814, which includes Earth," Hal said, introducing himself.

"Logan Washburn. So do you mind telling me why the League had me come here?"

"You're talking to him. The reason is this: Ollie figures that you could make a good ally for the League, but some of us have doubts about that on account of your killing streak. The reason I volunteered to meet you personally was because you hate to kill, so you only do it when you have to, is that right?" Logan nodded. "I also volunteered because you already knew John and Kyle before they became Green Lanterns and I guess Ollie told you about Guy's arrogance."

"That's why I picked Red Robin over him when my girlfriend and I were facing Red Hood and his Outlaws."

"Smart. Gardner's big mouth would've spelled trouble for you guys. How would you like to come with me to work tomorrow?" Hal offered.

"Sounds great…as long as I get to do the checklist," Logan said. Hal looked at him confusedly. "I have acrophobia, which essentially means that I can't go that high without freaking out unless I have an objective to do."

"Oh I get you. Don't worry. I'll be the one doing the flying. You just sit by with whatever Carol Ferris gives you and you'll be good."

"Thanks. By the way, you said Earth has 5 Green Lanterns. Who's the 5th one?"

"His name's Simon Baz. He's a new recruit from Detroit."

* * *

Meanwhile, Nathaniel was in a cave in the desert training to get used to his ring. The voice of The Grey had told him that The Green was their enemy, bent on destroying the universe and that he was their hope, but he needed to train. Getting his butt handed to him by Alan, Batman, Flash, and Hawkgirl had him focus more on the practice. He didn't realize that he'd be facing another version of his enemy and making a new rival at the same time. That's right. This is the same desert that Ferris Aircraft uses to test their engines. Nathaniel concentrated on the simple flight test. He flew around the air doing a few simple stunts before returning to the cave. The voice from The Grey told him that he was on his own for the training.

The next thing he did was use the ring to lift up a few rocks and throw them. He set up rock piles with each of the insignias for the heroes that beat him…well two of them anyway. The only ones he didn't use insignias for were Batman and Alan. He had the Flash's giant lightning bolt and a pair of makeshift wings on the 'Hawkgirl' pile. He made a pair of revolving turrets on his hands and opened fire at them. After firing and disintegrating both piles, he pondered on a question that had been on his mind. _'Why didn't I make a pile for Batman and Green Lantern?'_ he thought.

He eventually came across his own answer. _'It can't be because of some newfound respect for them, could it? I better rest up so I can fly some more tomorrow.'_ With that, he went back to the cave and got some rest.

* * *

The next day was bright and hot, but that didn't stop the staff of Ferris Aircraft from testing their machines. Hal took Logan to the main hangar and brought him to Carol's office. She was a lovely young lady who wore a women's business suit and had her hair past her shoulders. Hal knocked on her door to get her attention. "Hey, Carol, what would you like for me to test out today?" he asked.

"Hal, I'm awfully busy filling out this paperwork. It'll be a bit," said Carol. "On top of that, the _Daily Planet's_ Lois Lane is going to be here to interview the place, so that could be a bit longer."

"I brought a friend of mine along to help with the flight tests. He could do the checklists while you take care of the paperwork and interview." Hal's suggestion finally drew Carol's attention to Logan. "This is Logan Washburn. The League has me working with him to find out more about him. This way, we can figure out how we can all work with him."

"You mean he knows that you're a Green Lantern."

"The same goes with John, Guy, Kyle, and Simon as well. Like I said, he can take care of the checklist part of the test flight while you deal with Ms. Lane." Carol thought about it, smiled, and nodded.

"Okay, Logan, these are the jets that Hal's going to be flying. There are a total of five. You boys can do three, take a break for lunch, and then do the last two. I'm a little nervous about this, but I'm sure you can handle it. Just take a look at the lists for the specs of the plane. Did you get all of that?" she asked.

"Yes, Ms. Ferris," said Logan.

"Don't worry, Carol, we got everything under control."

"I hope so, Hal."

* * *

The next thing they knew, Hal was doing his usual stunts while Logan was holding the clipboard wearing a pair of sunglasses that Cammy bought him as a gift. "Okay, Hal, what's the top speed for that engine?" he asked.

"_Top speed is at 195,"_ said Hal over the communicators. Logan looked up and saw that Hal did a quadruple spin.

"And that's why I'm not going up in one of those things. I guess I can give the handling 4 out of 5?"

"_I prefer a perfect score."_

"Sorry, but Ms. Ferris is having me keep your ego grounded." Logan chuckled when he heard Hal swear. "I didn't make the rules, Jordan. I'm just doing what she told me to do. Is there any turbulence?"

"_Yes, there's turbulence. Apparently, it's from Superman flying around because it's rougher than usual. In fact, Carol designed this particular plane to not go through it."_

"Well, bring it back in so we can check it out." Hal did as instructed and they inspected the plane. They saw nothing wrong with the plane or the engine, but that's when Logan picked up some sort of Spirit Energy. "Hey, Hal, can you use your ring to scan the plane? I'm picking up an unfamiliar Spirit Energy and I want to be safe."

Hal almost did as requested until he saw Carol with another woman, whom he figured to be Lois Lane. She had her hair in the same manner as Carol's and she wore a purple version of what she did. Hal indicated to Logan with a nod of his head that using the ring would be a bad idea. Lois noticed them, but mistaken Logan for a staff member. "Excuse me, but can you spare a moment of your time?" she asked him.

"Sorry, Miss Lane, but I'm not the one you should talk to. The pilot here is Hal Jordan," he said, directing her to Hal. "I'm just a guest."

"Oh I'm so sorry sir." She then turned to Hal. "Excuse me, Mr. Jordan, do you care for an interview?" Hal glared at Logan, who had a smirk on his face, and Carol, who could barely hold in her laughter. He relented and agreed to do the interview. Logan handed Carol the specs on the jet Hal drove and told her about the Spirit Energy he found on the plane from the turbulence.

* * *

After the interview and the remaining test flights, the sky shown that it was sundown. They called it a day, and after Lois left, Hal kicked in his power ring, putting him in his Green Lantern uniform. Logan understood the need for the domino mask since Kyle Rayner had one for the same reason: it was to hide their secret identity from the world. Gardner never got this concept and John claimed that he had nothing to hide. Hal scanned the plane and found the strange energy that Logan was talking about. "I'll check the sky to see about the turbulence there," he said.

He scanned the sky and found the same aura that was on the plane. He was about to radio Logan, but he saw a glowing grey thing. "Hey, Logan, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he asked through his ring.

Logan looked through his binoculars until he saw what Hal was talking about. "Yeah, I see it. I'm on my way," said the Assassin. Using his super speed, he caught up to Hal pretty quickly.

* * *

As Logan was heading there, Nathaniel was practicing his flying again. The voice from before spoke up again. _'Nathaniel, one of our enemies is here. It is the Green Lantern,'_ it said. He turned around and saw Hal. However, because of the green aura around him, the voice convinced him that he was their enemy. He charged up a blast and fired at the Green Lantern, who put up a shield and withstood the attack.

Logan saw what was happening, so he used his Flash Step and bounced off the ground. Using his chain blade, he hooked onto Nathaniel's ankle and pulled him down. This stopped the blast on Hal since it caused him to lose concentration. Logan fired his other chain blade, attaching it to a cliff, and tried to pull the grey-covered kid to the ground. Hal assisted by using the same hammer construct he used on Grundy and knocking Nathaniel to the ground. Logan flipped backwards and landed on his feet just as the former janitor was getting up. Nathaniel formed a sword construct and clashed with Logan, who got his own sword out.

As the two of them were clashing swords, Logan saw that Hal was ready to fire a blast, but didn't want to hit him. He kicked Nathaniel's leg and put him in a headlock, making him face Hal, who hit him with the blast he charged up. Logan jumped up in the air just as the blast made contact. It sent Nathaniel back a few feet, but he recovered and was ready to attack again. He quickly charged and fired a blast at both the Assassin and the Green Lantern, both of which had to dodge. "Have you seen this guy before?!" Logan asked. "His powers are like yours, but more dull!"

"I can see that! No I haven't seen him before! There's no such thing as a Grey Lantern Corp.!" explained Hal.

"I don't know what his weakness is, but I think I know a way to disable him for a bit! I need you to buy me some time!" Hal nodded, noting that anything but death is acceptable. Logan jumped and Flash Stepped behind Nathaniel and stabbed him in the right shoulder with his sword, which was the side that the ring was on, and knocked him out. He took care not to sever his arm. The Grey's aura dispelled and revealed Nathaniel's true look. Hal was just as shocked as Logan was. "You've got to be kidding me. He can't be much older than me."

"Better take him somewhere safe, preferably not the hangar." Logan nodded, picked Nathaniel up over his shoulder, and carried him.

* * *

In Nathaniel's subconscious, the voice had contacted him. They were discussing what to do to trick the two heroes. _'Nathaniel, you must gain the trust of The Green's avatar. He must believe you to be possessed in the aura form. I will bind the ring to you so they can't take it off,'_ it said.

"I don't think this Green Lantern is allied with The Green. His power must be an artificial force," said Nathaniel.

'_Hmm…your curiosity has served you well once again. First, you picked a locked door to a lab you had no authorization to enter, and then you discovered the identities of both The Green's agent and the original Batman. You'll have to discover if this Lantern's is the same as the one from our dimension.'_ Nathaniel nodded before being drawn back to consciousness.

* * *

When he woke up, he saw that he was back in his cave, but was tied with a rope to a stalagmite. He tried to break free, but the green that the rope was made of indicated that this was a construct of the Green Lantern's imagination. "Great. No getaway for me this time," he mused to himself.

"You're right, buddy. There isn't," said a voice. He looked around until he saw Hal leaning on a wall. "My power is based on will. The stronger my will, the stronger my constructs," Hal explained. "I have a pretty strong will, which means that you won't be getting out of there anytime soon."

"You sound different from the Green Lantern from my world. Are you sure you're not Alan Scott?"

"I'm not Alan Scott. I never even heard of him."

"So if you're not Alan Scott, then who are you?" asked Nathaniel.

"Sorry, kid. That's classified information," Hal stated. Just then, Logan entered the cave.

"I see he's awake," the Assassin said. He had some food with him, knowing that Nathaniel might be hungry. "Boy oh boy, my little lady sure knows how to make a good turkey sandwich. Do you want one?" he asked with a smirk.

"That would be very much appreciated, thank you," Nathaniel answered. Logan held out the sandwich just where it was out of Nathaniel's reach.

"First, we need some information."

"What do you want to know?"

"We'd like to know who you are, where you came from, and how you got that power."

"Not to mention how you know a Green Lantern I never heard of," Hal added.

"My name is Nathaniel, but my friends call me Nate. I come from a parallel universe where there's a different Green Lantern and a different Batman. I'm assuming that there's a different Flash and Hawkgirl as well."

"I wouldn't know unless you know your Hawkgirl's identity. I can't reveal the one here," Hal said, using a lie detector construct. Nathaniel knew he had to sound like he wasn't lying.

"Right, classified information," he said. "As for gaining this power, the force behind the ring possesses me and causes me to attack heroes, more notably my world's Green Lantern. Unfortunately, he bound the ring to me so it won't be removed."

"Yeah, I noticed. I tried it myself. From the looks of things, your explanation seems legit. We'll see what we can do for you, but in the meantime, you'll need someone to keep you in check. Logan here is an extra-personal ally to the Justice League. He'll keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get possessed by that strange force." Logan looked at Hal with the same glare that he gave him and Carol earlier.

"Whatever works, Green Lantern."

* * *

After a bit, the probation started. They decided that 'Grey Lantern' wasn't a good enough name for someone to have with that kind of power, so Logan suggested 'Silver Lantern'. Hal and Nate agreed with it. The latter mentally told The Grey's voice to make the grey look more polished like silver, to which the voice agreed. When they got back to the city, they saw that Arsenal was in town. Logan went to talk to Roy while Hal watched over Nate. "What's going on, Harper?" he asked.

"Batman's new sidekick is trying out for the covert ops team that Aqualad leads," the ex-Speedy said. "I'm looking to join as well since Star's out to reconnect with her old teammates, including Raven."

"I didn't know she was doing that. What about Hood?" Roy looked and saw that Nate was in the presence, which meant that he had to use Jason's codename.

"The Red Hood went AWOL. He's been missing ever since he broke out of the holding cells in the you-know-what. I'm looking to try and get back on the team as well, but I know I can't take Nightwing's place. I'm nothing like him or GA."

"Well where's Bluebird now?" Just as Logan asked that, a girl in a blue uniform arrived. She wore a black utility belt, a metallic corset and domino mask, and black jacket. Her hair was shaved on the sides and the back. On her utility belt was a holster for her pistol while she carried a larger gun on her back. Having not seen her before, Roy and Hal were shocked. Logan smirked while Nate was confused. "Talk about easy on the eyes."

"I thought you had a girlfriend," Roy said.

"I was talking about the guns. Once again, Batman's got another one who could scare the living daylights out of someone."

"Yeah, but with guns? Logan, Batman never lets anyone in his family use guns."

"Neither does Green Arrow, but he keeps you around. I'm more into swords, but I'm actually interested in working with her, as well as our new Silver Lantern over there." Roy looked to see that he was talking about Nate. "This is going to be fun, Arsenal. Trust me."

Bluebird approached the duo just as Hal and Nate rejoined them. "Bluebird reporting for training," she said. Roy gave him a smirk that told him 'military attitude knocks a few points off'. "Are you the ones I'll be working with?"

"So it's teamwork with others besides Batman and Red Robin, huh?" Bluebird nodded. "Well originally, it was just going to be Arsenal you'd be working with. However, due to circumstances that were out of mine and Green Lantern's control, you'll also be working with us." Bluebird was shocked, but nodded nonetheless. "I suggest we get started now."

TO BE CONTINUED…

CHAPTER 4 END

* * *

**Okay, so Nate, Logan, Hal, and Arsenal have met Bluebird, Batman's latest sidekick who didn't take the Robin name out of respect (I assume). Of course, Logan and Hal had to team up against Nate beforehand and Solomon Grundy before that. The conclusion to the mini-story is next.**

**Just so you know, Bluebird's real name is Harper Row. She and her brother Cullen grew up in a life of poverty, abuse, and abandonment. For some reason I don't know, Cullen tried to get her to court Tim Drake (Red Robin). Her skills include Survival, Electrical Engineering, Firearms (surprisingly, Batman lets her use them), and Hand-to-Hand Combat. This is not an OC of mine.**


	5. Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt 3

**Rise of the Silver Lantern Pt. 3**

The impromptu squadron of 5 had just gotten their first assignment from the Justice League for Bluebird's initiation. Led by Hal with Logan holding second-in-command, they were to infiltrate LexCorp and discover any plans of Lex Luthor's that would be against the League. That way, they could stay one step ahead of him. This mission was assigned by Superman, who slightly trusted the Assassin, but still had his doubts. Hal flew them all to Metropolis, which was Superman's city, while Hal and Logan thought of a plan to find out what Lex was planning. "Just out of curiosity, how are we going to get in?" Nathaniel asked. Bluebird and Arsenal looked at them for the answer.

"We're working on that, Nate," Logan answered. He was getting tired of his curiosity, but then a thought hit him. Hal brought them to the top of a building not too far from there at the same time. "I think I have an idea, guys."

"Shoot. I'm open for suggestions," said the Green Lantern.

"We can use Nathaniel's curiosity to get info on this ordeal. It can be fed through to Hal's ring. Arsenal and Bluebird can keep watch and guard him. Superman did say that he wanted Bluebird involved as much as possible. This should get you on the covert ops team." Arsenal let loose a smile and patted Batman's newest apprentice on the back while she was shocked. "The reason I assigned you two on guard duty is because your guns would give you away and Arsenal's a loose cannon and proud of it. Lex knows who I am on account of the fact that I imploded buildings in both Los Angeles and Berlin that belong to Abstergo Industries."

"You mean the Templars, don't you?" Arsenal asked, getting a nod from the Assassin. Hal was thinking the plan over and trying to see if there were any flaws in it. So far, he could think of none.

"That sounds good to me. Are you good with that, Nate?"

"Yes sir, Green Lantern," Nate answered.

"That's good. Let's get this done with." After Nathaniel got a few feet away from them and towards the LexCorp building, Hal turned to Logan. "Follow him. Whatever force is in that ring could cut off the link. It's crucial we get every bit of this plan if we're to succeed." Logan nodded and took a different route to the LexCorp building. He went underground.

* * *

Inside, Nate found the receptionist and asked for Luthor. Once the elevator door opened, Lex was standing inside of it, inviting the 'Silver' Lantern in. This was all while Logan stayed under the radar. He traveled through the air vents and listened in on their conversation, making sure to have his newly-developed recording gloves ready for Hal on the other end. He also wore a miniature camera over his eye. "…I have to say, Mr. Luthor, that it's an honor to finally meet you. I happen to be from a different universe and I never got to meet the Lex Luthor there personally. I heard he was quite the hero," Nate said.

Logan could hear Hal chuckling from the other end of the line. "Well thank you, son. I don't think the Justice League, especially Superman, would agree with you, though. Let me ask you something, Nathaniel," said Lex. "Have you ever wondered what it was like saving the world from behind a desk? I can guarantee you that it's not easy, especially when you have enemies that do a similar strategy. Since you see me as one of your idols, do you wish to see a secret?"

"Yes sir, I'd be honored." It was at that time, the link between Nate's ring and Hal's was cut off. Luckily, Logan was a contingency plan should this happen. Lex opened the curtain and revealed an army of robots with staffs similar to the once used in the Patrol Corp. at the Soul Society. The difference was that these were electrified. "Whoa. What is all of this?"

"This, my boy, is an advanced robotic police force. LexCorp has access to advanced, state-of-the-art technology just like the engineers at Wayne Enterprise. I'll be running for president, Nathaniel. I can't guarantee you that I would win, but if I do, these machines will go online. With them, we'll have no need for the Justice League. This especially goes for the likes of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern Corp. These robots will seek to protect the United States and all over the world. With crime eliminated, the Justice League will no longer be needed. Of course, I'm sure that Batman will be stubborn in the end, but in the end, even he must retire."

"Hal, did you get all of that?" Logan whispered.

"_Yeah, I did. I think we know enough. I have it all on this computer. I'll hand one flash drive to you when you get back here and one more for the League,"_ said Hal.

"Got it, but save one for Batman. I have a personal assignment for Bluebird." After that, Logan saw Nathaniel and Lex shaking hands and saying goodbye. The Assassin decided that leaving through the same way he came in was out of the options given that this was Lex Luthor he was dealing with. He decided on the upper levels. He knew that Lex would send some of his robots his way, but at least he wasn't going to be as cramped when he had to deal with them.

Sure enough, once Nathaniel left, Luthor turned to his lovely assistant Mercy Graves. "Mercy, send some of our robots to the roof. We have a spy amongst us and he's trying to bail out," he said. Mercy bowed and activated four of the robots. Luthor thought this was adequate since he knew the tactics of the stealthy League members like the Covert Ops team. He didn't know that it was Logan spying on them.

Once Logan got to the roof, he saw the robots that Luthor sent. He only shook his head since he predicted this move. The 24-year-old got his sword out and used his Flash Step, slashing each one in half and leaving a trick knife in the optical sensor, blowing up their heads. "Nice try, Lex," he said without turning backwards or smirking.

* * *

The squad regrouped together and reviewed the plans. The more they looked at it, the more it frustrated Hal, Logan, and Roy. While Bluebird was still learning more about the League's enemies, she couldn't understand why they were so irritated. Nathaniel knew that the force behind the ring was responsible for cutting his and Hal's link off, so he was a little mad that Logan was spying on him and Luthor. Hal uploaded the data onto three flash drives for the League, Batman, and Logan. "Okay, guys, here you go. This contains all of the audio and video recording of Lex and Nate's conversation. I don't know if Nate cut the connection between me and him or if it was the force of the ring. That's why I sent Logan just in case," Hal said.

"But why did you hand me a flash drive?" asked Bluebird.

"Ask Logan."

"It's because I need you to get it to Batman. Once you do, tell him to look it over and send it to Agent 37," Logan said, confusing the others. There was only one person he could tell about who Agent 37 is. Bluebird nodded anyways. "Arsenal, I'd like to talk to you in private before I send you with her." Roy nodded before going with him a good distance. As usual, Nathaniel got curious as to the conversation, but Hal stopped him.

They got about three buildings away from the group before they decided to talk. "Okay, Logan, what's this about? Who's Agent 37?" Arsenal asked.

"Promise you won't freak out on this one?" Roy was unsure, but nodded anyways. "Agent 37…is Dick Grayson."

"You're joking. You've got to be. Dick's dead. Batman said so."

"I know he told you that, Roy, but Dick is very much alive. After the Crime Syndicate incident, Batman wanted to see if Dick still had some fight in him. From what I could tell through my Spirit Sense, they even wrecked the Batmobile during their sparring match. Believe it or not, Dick won and reluctantly accepted this mission. He's infiltrated the ranks at Spyral to take them down from the inside out before they unmask every hero. However, Dick's also had some nutty adventures with them that were absolutely humiliating. I can only imagine what he's going through now."

"So why hasn't Batman told anyone else?"

"Because, Roy, if he did, there's a good chance that an enemy agent would be among the ranks of the Justice League. Only me, Batman, and now you know. There's also a good chance Raven knows as well. We can't tell anyone else, not even Star. Raven knows that if she found out, she'd go berserk. The same goes with Jason, but for a different reason."

"Gotcha. Jason's so psycho that if he knew Dick was alive, he'd try and kill him. Okay, I won't tell anyone." After that, Roy and Bluebird left for Gotham City, leaving behind a concerned Logan, a confident Hal, and a curious Nate.

"So what'd you two talk about?" Nate asked.

"None of your business," Logan answered.

"Was it about Bluebird?"

"I just said that it's none of your business."

* * *

The ride to Gotham City was quiet. Neither one of the vigilantes saw any trouble. They'd prefer to keep it that way. Bluebird was worried that she'd fail this assignment, even though she had just met Arsenal, Hal, Logan, and Nate. Roy saw this, but couldn't think of a way to make her less worried. Suddenly, a gas truck exploded on the bridge before they could make it. They got off their motorcycles to assess the damage while the chaos was running rampant. "Who could've done this?" Bluebird asked. Roy saw something on the parts of the tank.

"Something's off. Someone didn't want us to cross that bridge," he said.

"What makes you say that?"

"There was a bullet hole made in the tanker. I only know two people with that kind of accuracy: Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot…" he began before a figure wearing bronze and dark grey armor and a mask to match appeared, "…and Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke."

"So the Bat has a new Bird. I'm amazed he actually allows you to use guns." Roy got his bow out and fired an arrow. He fired it, but Slade dodged. "Sorry, Arsenal, but you missed," the mercenary taunted.

"No I didn't." Slade's one eye widened as he looked at the arrow that the ex-Speedy fired before it exploded, sending him right into his range for a hit from his bow. Deathstroke retaliated by catching Arsenal's next strike and head-butting him. Before he could hit him again, the mercenary was shot in the arm by Bluebird. As he was charging for her, Roy recovered and used a pair of nunchuks to wrap around his neck. Deathstroke tossed him off, but got kicked in the stomach. He saw that Bluebird aimed her guns at him.

The next thing that happened, Arsenal and Bluebird didn't see coming. Slade tossed down some smoke bombs, which gave him a tactical advantage. He punched them both in the stomach, grabbed them, and threw them onto the ground. He followed up by stomping Arsenal's chest, causing him to yell out in pain. Deathstroke saw that he was reaching his left arm behind his back, so he stepped on that as well. That was a ruse, however, as Arsenal got out a Shock Arrow and stabbed it into Slade's leg, shocking him.

Bluebird dug into her utility belt and tossed a propulsion batarang onto the mercenary and sent him flying into the sky. Both vigilantes were worn down from the beating that he gave them, mostly Roy, though. They got back onto their motorcycles and headed to the batcave from there. Arsenal saw that Bluebird was freaked out by their opponent. "Don't worry. He tormented the original Robin as well," he said.

"I didn't need to know that," she said.

* * *

They got to a certain part of Gotham before she turned to Roy. "Thanks for the assist, Arsenal, but I'll be safe from here," she said. That's when it occurred to him that this was one of Batman's many entrances to the Batcave. He smiled and shook her hand. Once he left, the entrance, which was a dumpster in Downtown Gotham, opened and she rode on through.

After riding the long tunnel, she got to the main cave itself. She saw Batman sitting there looking on his computer for any criminal activity. She also saw Alfred serving him tea as well. "Thanks, Alfred," Batman said.

"Yes, Master Bruce," the butler replied. "Miss Harper, welcome back. Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks, Alfred. I have to show Mr. Wayne something."

"What is it you have to show me?" She dug into her boot and pulled out the flash drive that Logan gave her. Surprisingly, it was still in good condition considering that they had fought Deathstroke.

"Arsenal and I ran into a bit of trouble before we got onto the bridge. This guy named Slade Wilson came after us for some reason. I think he wanted this," she explained as she handed Bruce the flash drive.

Bruce and Alfred looked the footage over and noticed that it was from one of the air vents at LexCorp. "Who was in the air vent?"

"Logan Washburn was." Batman narrowed his eyes when he heard the answer. He narrowed them even more when he saw Nate and Luthor shaking hands, even hearing the words 'I hope to work with you in the future, Nathaniel' coming from Luthor. "I haven't heard him say those words," Bluebird said.

"Who is Nathaniel?"

"I don't know much about him, other than the fact that he's a creep who calls himself the 'Silver Lantern'. Logan's his probation officer, and I guarantee you that he's not too crazy about being around him. Nathaniel fought Logan and the Green Lantern before they met up with me and Arsenal."

"Well he looks more grey than silver to me," Alfred remarked.

"I agree, Alfred. I guess the reason Logan had to record from the air vent was in case Nathaniel cut off communication between his and Hal's rings. Hal's smarter than he looks."

"Oh, one more thing," said Harper. "Logan said to show it to Agent 37 after you look at it." The statement surprised Batman and Alfred, who didn't know about Logan's Spirit Sense since 'Agent 37' failed to tell them about it. "Did I miss something here? Who's Agent 37? Is he the original Robin?"

Alfred thought for a moment before looking at Batman. "Should you tell her or should I, Master Bruce?" the butler asked.

The Dark Knight sighed before looking at Bluebird. "Sit down, Harper. This is going to be a long story."

* * *

Logan set Nathaniel up in the cave outside of Coast City while he headed back to St. Louis. The big thought that bugged him was the fact that he and Luthor mentioned working together in the future. Sure, Luthor knew he was there, but it didn't mean he hated it any less. What really bothered him, though, was the ring. He knew for some reason that the sign on it was suspicious. He just couldn't place why. He went into his hideout and saw a certain Delta Red soldier. "Hey, Cammy, what's up?" he asked.

"Not much, honey. How was Coast City?" she asked back.

"Hectic. It turns out that I had to team up with the Green Lantern Hal Jordan for this one. We took down a kid from a different dimension who we call the 'Silver Lantern', although, his aura is closer to grey. In addition to him, we also worked with Arsenal and Batman's newest apprentice Bluebird to find out what Lex Luthor is up to."

"You know, I never was too fond of Luthor." She kissed him on the lips. "Perhaps you need a break."

"After we look at this, I'll take you up on your offer." He proceeded to show Cammy the interaction between Nathaniel and Luthor. "Just so you know, I don't trust this guy." The more they listened to it, the more Cammy was shocked. She knew that Lex was going to try to take over the world using the Presidential position, but she didn't expect flat-out tyranny. "I know. I'm not savvy on Luthor either. In fact, LexCorp is a big organization I've always wanted to take down."

"Are there any corporations you don't want to take down?" Cammy asked.

"Queen Industries, Foxtech, Masters Corporation, and Wayne Enterprise," answered the Assassin.

"You have to send this to Bill and Chun-Li. They hate Luthor as much as you do."

"I'm already working on it. I'll send the file to Guile as well." Just then, a window came up on Logan's screen showing a man in a bat cowl. "Batman?"

"_Congratulations, Logan. You've earned my trust by sending Bluebird to me with the file. I let Spyral Agent 37 know about this. He's coming up with a plan to stop Luthor. The same goes with the Justice League. In the meantime, you have my thanks,"_ said the Dark Knight.

"What are we going to do about our so-called 'Silver Lantern'? In case Bluebird didn't tell you, I wound up being his parole officer thanks to Hal Jordan."

"_I know, and I'm sorry about that. You have every right not to trust him. Take a breather for now. You should team up with another hero when the time comes."_ With that, Batman hung up. Logan sat down slowly in his seat. Cammy saw that he was sweating bullets and figured that it had to do with Batman.

"Honey, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Baby Doll. It's just that Batman's been one of my heroes for a long time. I met his first apprentice, Dick Grayson, twice. The first time was from his Robin days while the second was when he was Nightwing. But to speak to Batman directly is an honor. I'm amazed I didn't crack up."

"I suppose that's true. You sent the file to Guile and Chun-Li, right?" Logan nodded. "Good. Now how about we relax?"

* * *

In the Watchtower, the Justice League was getting together to discuss what they were dealing with. It was obvious that Luthor powered these things with the weaknesses of every Leaguer except for the Flash. A good majority of them had crystals from Qward to counter the Green Lanterns while some had Kryptonite for Superman. None of the Leaguers liked this one bit. The ones holding the meeting were Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, Hal, the Flash, Black Canary, and John Stewart. "This isn't good," said Superman.

This concerned the other Leaguers. "What are we going to do? With these robots active, Luthor has practically beaten us. If there is anyone who remotely tries to be a hero, they'll be taken down by these robots. It'll be a repeat of St. Louis and Karakura Town," said Wonder Woman.

"That's not just what bugs me, Diana," said Hal.

"You're worried about that 'Nathaniel' kid, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Clark, I am. This kid bugs the daylights out of me. No doubt Logan has a complete distrust for him. Remember that he was seen shaking hands with Luthor."

"What do you propose we do, Hal?" asked John. Everyone looked at the masked Green Lantern.

"Let's wait it out. In the meantime, we need to help Logan keep tabs on our 'Silver Lantern'." Everyone was in agreement, but once again, there were doubts about Logan's loyalty due to his job as an Assassin. They were visible on Wonder Woman and Aquaman knew that Aqualad would feel the same way.

* * *

Back in the cave at the desert, Nathaniel was getting more and more frustrated with the fact that he couldn't get any info on Agent 37. The voice of the ring knew this as well. _"Calm yourself, Nathaniel. Given time, Luthor will have something for us again,_' it said.

"I hope so," said Nathaniel.

CHAPTER 5 END

* * *

**Alright, now I can have Logan working with characters other than Nathaniel, Hal, and Arsenal again. A little heads-up, he'll work with Raven, Agent 37, and another character I haven't brought into this yet in the next chapter.**


	6. Classic Grudge Match

**Classic Grudge Match**

Underneath the UN Headquarters lied a secret organization whose insignia was an eye within a spider web. This organization was Spyral, and it had two goals in mind: to take out the League of Shadows, and to unmask every superhero in the world, which put the Justice League as its prime target. Their leader, Kathy Webb-Kane, is responsible for giving the missions to the operatives while her assistant, Tiger, gave them the details. The latter, however, hates the newest operative, Agent 37, and as such, puts him in a handful of embarrassing situations should his activities under his previous codename surface.

Right now, Agent 37 and his partner and superior, Matron, were being debriefed about the plans that Hal Jordan and his small squad managed to acquire. After reviewing, Kathy had a disturbed look on her face; even though the organization's goal is to unmask all heroes, they also had a few anger issues with Lex Luthor and his company. What really disturbed Agent 37 was the conversation between both him and the 'Silver Lantern.' For one, they knew that there is no Silver Lantern Corp. in existence. Another thing is the last part where he and Luthor are shaking hands. After the plans were fully viewed, they gave a look to their newest agent. "Where did you get this, 37?" asked Kathy.

"I got it from an old friend of mine who was in the Green Lantern's squad. I've worked with him before to rescue another Justice Leaguer named Green Arrow in Tokyo. After that, Arrow and I were on a mission to blow up an Abstergo Industries base. We were knocked out, but the only one of us left standing managed to get the job done," 37 answered.

"I see. Ah yes, now I remember. You were still Nightwing back then, weren't you?" asked Tiger, surprising the agent. "At any rate, I assume you wish to pay this friend of yours a visit?"

"But what about that mechanical police force?"

"37, we're sending you to talk about how to deal with them. We're actually working with the Justice League on this one. You can take this mission alongside this friend of yours like old times, correct?"

"Yes, sir, I can."

"Good, and remember: Matron cannot go with you on this mission," said Kathy. Before 37 left, he was stopped again. "Oh, and Grayson, you might need your acrobatic skills for this one." The agent saw that their leader smirked and winked. He smirked back in response.

* * *

In St. Louis, Logan and Chun-Li, who was visiting at the time, were discussing Luthor's plans as well. Like Cammy, Chun-Li knew the business tycoon/Presidential candidate all too well. It disturbed her that Luthor would start this regime in the US if he won. Then he'd spread it across the globe. It would render Interpol, Delta Red, the Assassin's Guild, and the Justice League obsolete and herself, Logan, and Cammy without a job. It was unsettling, to say the least. "This is bad. A police force of robots that would extend Luthor's reach across the seas is a horrible thing. It's like he's planning to take away the freedoms of so many countries," she said.

"Tell me something I don't know. Lex is a madman and this officially solidifies it. I wonder if Nathaniel knows this and is working with him in secret or what he's doing," said Logan. Suddenly, the alarm went off and saw the city was under attack. "We'll have to worry about Luthor later. Right now, we've got trouble."

* * *

They went outside and took to the roofs, seeing the people on the run. Logan looked and saw the oddest sight he has ever laid eyes on: the city was attacked by four gorillas. One of them wore a French beret; one an old gangster's suit from the 1940s; another was white and wore red spiked straps, had no gut, and had what looked like a skull with the outline of his brain coming out; and the last one had a gold helmet on his head. All the gorillas were a good few heads taller than an average human male. "Gorillas?" asked Chun-Li. "You can't be serious."

"It sure looks like it. I can even recognize the Ultra-Humanite when I see him. From what Flash and Green Arrow told me, the one in the helmet is Gorilla Grodd, the one with the beret is Monsieur Mallah, and the guy in the pinstripe suit is the Gorilla Boss," Logan said.

"So what do we do? We'll get in trouble if we were to harm animals."

"Super-genius criminals are an exception." With that, Logan ran towards the apes with Chun-Li behind him. "Hey, monkeys!" Logan shouted when he got at a good enough distance. "Which one of you big, dirty, stinking apes is King Kong?!"

"'Monkey'?!" shouted Grodd. Obviously, Logan knew that Grodd took pride in his species. "I'll show you who the dirty, stinking ape is!" Ignoring the warnings from Ultra-Humanite and Monsieur Mallah, Grodd got on Logan's level and pushed a button on his helmet. Before the effect could kick in, the red light on the helmet was shot. "Who dares destroy Grodd's helmet?!"

"That would be me!" said a voice. They looked up as a man wearing the Spyral spy gear descended and kicked Grodd off the roof. Logan smirked and recognized him right off the bat as his old friend Dick Grayson. Due to the lack of interaction the apes had with him (the exception being Monsieur Mallah), they didn't recognize him. In fact, only Humanite remembered that he was Dick Grayson. Before the white gorilla could say anything, Dick threw an object at him to shut him up, which bounced back to him—one of his electrically-enhanced Escrima Sticks.

"Fancy meeting you here," Logan said with a smirk. Dick smirked back before the two of them, along with Chun-Li, charged after the gorillas. Logan went after Gorilla Boss and Humanite, doing a handstand on both of their heads and bashing them together and jumping off. He used Gorilla Boss' size to knock him off of the pedestal they were on before going after Humanite. "You know something, Humanite? I think it's high time we got you back to the zoo." Humanite smirked before going after Logan.

Chun-Li was having a bit of a hard time against Grodd after the latter recovered. She was barely able to keep him at bay with her 'Thousand Leg Kick'. Grodd decided that he's had enough. He grabbed her leg and hung her upside-down. This proved to be a big mistake that allowed her to use her 'Spinning Bird Kick'. Unfortunately, this ticked off Grodd even more, his growling being enough to reach Logan's ears. Sadly, he was busy dealing with Ultra-Humanite. Gorilla Boss got up and grabbed Chun-Li from behind. "What do you say, Grodd? Is she a beaut or what?" he asked with a lecherous grin, freaking out the Interpol Officer.

"Not if you're on the receiving end of those kicks," said Grodd. He noticed that Gorilla Boss was being held up by a black energy field, which caused him to let Chun-Li go. The field tossed the gangster gorilla at the super genius, who ducked to avoid getting hit. He looked and saw that Chun-Li had chi in her hands, which were spread apart.

"Kikosho!" she exclaimed, shooting her Ultra Attack at Grodd, hitting him square on the chest and sending him into a building. Chun-Li looked behind her and saw a black energy bird—a raven—coming out from underground. When the bird disappeared, a young woman with bluish-gray skin and yellow eyes took its place. She had on a dark blue leotard and a cloak of a similar color. "What in the world?"

Logan was pinned down by the Ultra-Humanite, who was choking him. "It's a shame I'll have to kill you, boy. Any last words before I send you over the edge?" Humanite asked.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid the ladies might not like them so well," said Logan, smirking before planting his foot on Humanite's gut. He flipped backwards, grabbed onto the ledge, and watched as the albino gorilla landed on Grodd and Gorilla Boss. He saw Monsieur Mallah being added to the pile as well, so he looked and saw Dick dusting off his hands. The two of them rejoined the girls. The guys did a hi-five followed by a fist-bump. Chun-Li was confused as to why Logan was interacting with a Spyral agent outside of fighting, but the other woman smiled, knowing who the agent was.

"While you two play catch-up, I'll send these dirty apes to their cages," said the other girl. Chun-Li looked and saw that she had magic powers. "Now then, Logan, should we reconvene at your place or a hotel room?"

* * *

After they got back to the den, Dick and the demon girl had a look around, obviously impressed with the place due to cultural influences. They could see some Asian (due to Chun-Li, Soifon, and Yoruichi), European (Cammy's influence as well as the deeds of Ezio Auditore, Edward Kenway, and Arno Dorian), and even Native American (Connor Kenway). "Nice digs you got here, Logan," said Dick.

"Thanks. Care for a drink?" Logan asked. Logan tossed Dick a bottle of water and gave the demon girl a cup of tea. "Nice seeing you two again, especially you, Raven."

"Okay, Logan, I'm getting tired of being left in the dark. Who are these two?" Chun-Li asked, frustrated that they haven't introduced themselves yet.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Chun-Li, meet Raven." The half-demon, Raven, waved her hand in response. "And the other one is Dick Grayson." The introduction of the latter put a shocked look on Chun-Li's face.

"Dick Grayson! You mean to tell me that he's Nightwing?! Why didn't you tell Cammy this?! You worked with Red Robin to stop the Red Hood and Starfire from harming a lot of people!"

"Technically, there was Arsenal as well, but I don't want to get into too much detail."

"Wait. You and this 'Cammy' person fought Jason and his Outlaws?" Dick asked.

"Yeah we did."

"What happened after you beat them?" Raven asked.

"Red Robin brought Jason and Starfire to the holding cells of the Watchtower while Roy, who wasn't there when Jason and I fought, turned himself over to Green Arrow's custody. Sooner or later, after their sentence was up, Jason went AWOL while Starfire decided to rekindle with her old teammates. From what Roy told me, Raven, she managed to get to you first."

"I've been meditating with her since then to help her find her true self again. She was heartbroken when Dick's Nightwing identity was compromised and he was thought to be killed. I told her to look for Cyborg and Beast Boy next. Maybe from them, she'll rediscover herself. Enough about that, though. We need to discuss what Luthor's planning to do with that army of his."

"Wait, how did you know about that?" asked Dick. She turned at him with a smirk on her face **(A/N: Think about the smirk Batman had when he spoke to Hal in **_**Justice League: War**_**)**. This reminded him of their bond from back in his Robin days. "Oh, I see. It still hasn't worn off yet, has it?"

"Nope," Raven quipped. "And it will last until one of us dies."

"Anyway…back to the matter at hand," Logan said, interrupting their conversation. "I can sense Nathaniel's movements thanks to my 'Spirit Sense'. He's in the desert outside of Coast City, which means that he's not going to listen to this conversation. I say that because I still don't trust him and Batman's new partner Bluebird would agree with me." Dick and Raven nodded. "I took some parts from the robots I slashed up, jammed Lex's homing beacon, and began analyzing the technology once I got here. I think the technology is alien…and from different planets."

"How so?" asked Chun-Li.

"The robots and their circuitry are made from metals and ores found on planets like Korugar, Tamaran, Mars, and even Krypton. In fact, I even found some tech from Oa as well. It's the same stuff that the Guardians used to build the Manhunters, their elite force gone wrong and the predecessors to the Green Lantern Corp. However, the biggest piece of Oan influence is their appearance."

"I guess Hal explained the Manhunters fiasco to you?" Dick asked.

"Actually, that was John. Kilowog tried to get him to shut up, but apparently, he felt like I needed to know about it. Like I was saying, this technology is alien, so I have no doubt that Lex sent some excavators into space to retrieve it. Cutting through a Kryptonium alloy is pretty tough, so Lex knows what he's doing. Titanium's still stronger, though."

"And that just means we'll have to hack it somehow and shut them down permanently from the inside, is that it?" Dick asked, getting a nod from the Assassin. He and Raven smirked at each other. "Then that means that Luthor will have wasted a great deal of money…again."

"With the amount of money he spends on Kryptonite to deal with Superman, it's a wonder he has the kind of cash to even run for President of a honkytonk," quipped Logan, sharing a laugh with everyone.

* * *

Meanwhile, at LexCorp, Luthor was in his office alone with his own thoughts. He now knew that it was Logan who destroyed the robots sent after him and not Arsenal or Bluebird. At any rate, he knew he couldn't have Nathaniel deal with them due to his inexperience and the fact that he didn't want to risk getting that kind of attention from the League. He then remembered that he hired a mercenary to get back the flash drives. Deathstroke was unable to get the one Bluebird had brought to Batman thanks to Arsenal. Suddenly, Lex heard a buzz on the door. "Come in," he said.

His secretary, a young Asian-American woman in a black business jacket and skirt with a white shirt underneath walked in. She had back-length brown hair and eyes to match. To many men, she was easy on the eyes. Her name is Mercy Graves and her job as Luthor's secretary was a well-paying one, but it didn't offer her a lot of free time. "I have managed to acquire some surveillance footage of an attack on St. Louis caused by the gorillas," Mercy said.

"Oh? This should be good. Maybe we'll be able to find a weakness on Logan Washburn." As they were watching, Lex was getting frustrated at the fact that Logan managed to beat even the Ultra-Humanite. However, it wasn't Logan's weakness that was the reason for Mercy bringing the video. She stopped it at the point where the four of them (Raven and Agent 37 included) were grouped up. Naturally, Lex was surprised to see Dick among the group. "So Dick Grayson's back in town, but on Spyral business" he commented.

"That's correct, sir. Should I call Nathaniel?"

Lex got an evil smile on his face. "No, Mercy. To pit him against Nightwing would be a mistake since he could match the Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart. I think it's time we reunite two old foes."

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Logan, Dick, Raven, and Chun-Li were trying all they could to study the alien tech and find a way to counter it. It was getting to Chun-LI, so Logan had her lie down and brought her a glass of water. After kissing her on the lips, he rejoined Dick and Raven when the screen on the computer came on. The two former Titans recognized him off the bat: their old foe Deathstroke. "Slade," Dick said, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist.

"_It's nice to see you too, Grayson. I have a proposition for you,"_ he said, getting their attention. _"Meet me on the rooftops of Downtown St. Louis, give me the flash drive that's in the Assassin's possession, and I'll leave you and Bluebird alone._ With that, he hung up.

Dick inhaled and exhaled to keep from smashing Logan's supplies. "Are you okay, Dick?" asked Raven.

"What do you think, Rae?" he asked, trying not to sound so harsh. "Even as a Spyral agent, I still hold my role as the 'big brother' to Batman's other partners close to my heart. Though I haven't met Bluebird yet, this applies to her as well. Anytime I find out Slade Wilson torments my siblings, it's personal. He did this to the last Robin and now he's tormenting Bluebird. I think it's time to put Slade in a coma."

"You know it's a trap, Dick," Logan said. "You're going to need more than just a pair of Escrima Sticks to fight Deathstroke. You had more gadgets as Robin and as Nightwing. Even as Agent 37, he still has knowledge of your fighting style. On top of that, it doesn't look like Spyral supplied you with much."

"I know. I'll just have to try a different fighting style that still incorporates the acrobatics, especially since we can't call Star, Cyborg, or Beast Boy, not to mention anyone else in the League. That would just blow my cover. You didn't tell anyone else about this plan of Batman's did you?"

"I just told Arsenal and Bats told Bluebird. I had to make him promise not to tell anyone else since Star and Jason would go berserk for different reasons. I can maybe help a little in the fight against Slade, but I'm sure he can take all three of us."

"Don't you mean all four of us, Logan?" Chun-Li asked, getting up from her rest.

"Chun-Li, we're going to need you at the monitor. You're probably still tired after studying this tech and the shock from Dick still being alive might not have worn off. I guarantee you that I'd have Cammy do the same thing. I prefer you alive, Chun-Li, and Deathstroke's an expert killer." While this shocked and saddened the Interpol Officer, she nodded anyways. He kissed her on the cheek and got ready to deal with Slade alongside Dick and Raven.

Logan remembered another gadget that would be good to test out. He took what looked like a bunch of flash drives with the Assassin's Guild insignia on the cap. "What are those?" Raven asked, knowing that none of them were the actual flash drive.

"These are dummy drives. I figured that with Deathstroke after the real deal, it would be a good idea to test them out."

* * *

On the rooftops, Deathstroke awaited Dick and Raven. He knew that they weren't going to cooperate willingly, so he prepared himself for a fight. He mused and thought of it like old times, but without Dick Grayson in a costume. Pretty soon, he saw his old foe approach him with Raven tagging along. "Did you bring the recording?" he asked. Dick held up a flash drive. "Good. I see you both have cooperated this time around. Now, hand it over." The heroes looked at each other before handing the flash drive over to Slade.

The mercenary took it from Dick's hand, but then heard some beeping. He turned the flash drive around and saw a red light flashing rapidly. "Oh you son of a…" he began. The bomb gave off a small explosion, forcing Deathstroke back. Once the smoke cleared, he saw that Dick had a smirk on his face. "That was quite clever, Grayson. I never even knew that Batman or Spyral would think to pull a classic like the infamous dummy bomb gag. Or was it that you two have help from an old friend of yours?"

At that, Dick and Raven smirked as Logan appeared behind him, grabbed him, and threw him further back. "Don't you ever shut up?" the Assassin asked.

"Only when I have to." Slade got his sword out and attacked Logan, who blocked with his own sword. Dick, with help from Raven using her psychic powers, separated the two with a kick to the mercenary's face. Deathstroke retaliated by trying to trip the two close-range fighters up with his sword. Both of them dodged and Raven used her powers to toss a barrel at their opponent. He sliced it, but wound up covered in oil.

Logan used 'Chidori' to coat his own sword in electricity, prompting Dick to move out of the way and stop Raven from going any further. "Chidori Blade!" exclaimed the Assassin. Slade moved, but he left an oil trail that the electricity hit. It sparked a fire and chased him all around. Deathstroke didn't have any other choice. He dove into the Mississippi River and washed the oil off.

Logan, Dick, and Raven decided to take the battle to the ground so that the fire department could put out the fire. Once Slade got back out of the water, he was furious. He attacked all three of them, especially focusing on Raven. Dick sideswiped him and proceeded to fight him on his own. He got out his Escrima Sticks and began to use a different style with them. Deathstroke did a down slash, but Dick blocked it with the stick in the left hand, using the right one to jab at his foe.

Dick pulled a variety of combos, causing Slade to be launched into the air. Once he was high enough, Logan jumped from a wall and kicked him down while the former Robin combined the sticks into an electrified Bo staff. He tried to slam the staff down, but Slade dodged it. Logan attacked, but the mercenary hit him with a grapple line. It sent the line towards a propane tank, but as soon as it came back, it found itself in Logan's hands. He tossed it back at him, but Slade shot it in mid-air.

He turned his attention back to Dick, who attacked with the Bo staff now. Slade kicked Dick in the chest and knocked him and Logan down. That didn't stop the former Robin from getting up and attacking Slade again. Due to his rivalry he shared with him, Dick didn't see the bomb that he slid over to Raven. Logan recovered and saw the bomb heading towards the only girl in the trio. Before it got to her, the Assassin kicked it, making it go to the Mississippi River where it exploded. After a few more clashes, Slade tripped Dick and made him fall to the ground. "Now hand me the real flash drive before I have to kill you and your friends. Knowing you, I don't think you'd know what to do if Raven were to die, or perhaps poor little Bluebird. She's so young and inexperienced you know. She was only safe from me due to Arsenal's skill."

The statements about Bluebird and Raven were enough to tick off Dick, who showed his prowess as both Robin and Nightwing. He got out a Taser given to him by Spyral and shocked Slade with it. Afterwards, he kicked him off, separated his Bo staff back into the Escrima Sticks, and gave Deathstroke a beating that he'd give the Joker. He knocked off his helmet, revealing an old man with an eye patch and grey beard. Afterwards, Dick hit him in the back of the head hard with one of the sticks. "There," Dick said. "Now you're shutting up."

* * *

They got Slade to a prison with confirmation that the Taser, combined with the blows from the Escrima Sticks, were enough to render him out of commission for a while. The three of them got back to Chun-Li at the hideout, where she saw that Dick received the most damage while Raven and Logan were okay. Soon, it was time to say goodbye to the two former Titans. "I guess you have to go back to Spyral and tell them about your findings?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so. In the meantime, I'd like for Raven to join the Justice League's Covert Ops Team," Dick said, surprising Raven. "It won't be easy earning everyone's trust, especially Aqualad's, but at least Beast Boy and Cyborg know you. You can count on them to help you out."

"But what if I need someone to talk to and it's not them?" asked Raven.

"Then you can talk to Black Canary or call me. You can sense when I'm not busy, so you'll know who to talk to." With that, the two of them embraced in a hug. "It was good to see you again, Rae."

"It was good to see you too, Dick."

"You know, I think those two were made for each other," Chun-Li commented with a smile on her face.

"I have to agree with you on that one. Starfire wouldn't, but that's just her," said Logan. They saw a helicopter drop a ladder and Dick climb aboard. They wondered why until they saw the Spyral symbol on it. Logan smiled, having given some samples of the acquired tech to him. After the chopper left, he and Chun-Li looked at Raven and saw that she had tears in her eyes. The half-demon clutched onto Logan and started crying on his chest while he and Chun-Li tried to comfort her. _'I hope you find something, Dick, because you have this girl to get back to,'_ Logan thought, obviously talking about Raven.

CHAPTER 6 END

* * *

**Man that was a long chapter…at least for me. You should read Naito Writer's stories. He's got so many ideas, he could fill up the Trojan Horse three times and then some. I am glad to have finally brought Dick Grayson and Raven into this along with Chun-Li. I had brought Starfire in on Chapter 2 along with her fellow Outlaws, Arsenal (Roy Harper) and Red Hood (Jason Todd), as well as Cammy and Red Robin (Tim Drake). The next chapter will feature my main guest character from 'Symbios-Issues' as well as Nathaniel. In lieu of Hal Jordan or any of the other Green Lanterns, I'll bring in a couple of **_**Bleach**_** favorites of mine (HINT: Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki won't be in until later chapters).**


	7. Cloak Returns

**Cloak Returns**

In Metropolis, a new casino was recently finished. The funding was provided by LexCorp, which helped to provide an exquisite design in the main rooms. In the lounge, there were leather seats circling the fountain. The reception desk was make of marble on the surface, but the rest was ash wood. The floor had carpet on it for the gambling portions and restaurant. Naturally, kids weren't allowed in the gaming section, so Lex Luthor had a kids room put in just to keep up the charitable façade. There was a theater there as well should any acts be in town, such as Cirque du Soleil. Naturally, it was a grand sight.

Everyone there looked like they were dressed for a black-tie event, including one particular individual who had red hair and stood about 6'1". Normally, he'd be in a white collared shirt without the jacket, but he had to blend in to look for a certain crime lord he was pursuing. Hearing word about Luthor's corruptness, he figured he'd be here. He looked and saw a heavyset man who looks similar to Steven Mandragora, but with no hair, revealing his egg-shaped head. The slimmer individual knew he had found his target at last as he approached a special kind of table. This was a Blackjack table, and Blackjack was one card game that the man rivaled a certain Assassin friend of his in.

As he approached the table, the fat man took notice of him. "Well hello there, my friend. My name's Tobias Whale," Whale said, introducing himself.

"Todd Platinum," said the man, now known as Todd Platinum. "Care for a little game of Blackjack?"

Whale grinned at this. "Why sure thing, Platinum. As it just so happens, Blackjack is one of my favorites." Before Whale could touch the deck, Todd grabbed it. "Hey, what gives?"

"Oh nothing. I just thought that I should deal the first game." He dealt out the cards as the rules say, but Whale glared at him. After placing their bets, the crime lord looked at his cards, an Ace of Hearts and a Five of Spades. He tapped the table, signifying the phrase 'hit me'. Todd gave him another card from the top of the deck, a Six of Diamonds. This gave him a total of 12. He tapped again and got a Five of Hearts this time. That's when he decided to stay. Todd flipped his own cards over, revealing a Ten of Spades and a Deuce of Diamonds. He drew one more card, lucking out that it was a Nine of Hearts. "21. You lose," he said.

"Not bad, Todd, but I think I'll deal this time." They placed their bets again. Todd looked at his cards and closed his eyes. Whale took this as a sign that he was going to pass until Todd showed him his hand. Whale was shocked and for good reason: Todd's cards were an Ace and a Jack, both Spades. "It looks like you lucked out on that one…again," said Whale.

Whale handed Todd the cards for one last game. After he dealt the cards, they placed their bets one more time. Whale gave the 'hit me' sign after figuring out he had an Ace of Diamonds and a Seven of Clubs. Todd handed the top card, which turned out to be the Three of Spades, to him. The crime boss gave the 'hit me' sign one more time and got a Queen of Hearts. He decided to stay.

Todd flipped his face down card over, revealing that he had a Nine of Diamonds and an Ace of Hearts. He flipped the top card over and got an Ace of Clubs. "21 with three cards," said Todd.

"Hey, you're cheating!" Whale shouted. It was obvious even to a blind man that Whale hated to lose. He pulled out a gun at Todd. "This is what happens to people who cheat me out of my money!" Todd flipped the table over and caused Whale to miss. Soon, the slimmer man found himself surrounded by henchmen. One of them charged for the guy, only to wind up getting the wind knocked out of him. He grabbed the cards and flung them at the rest of the henchmen one at a time until he was down to three. He tossed all three of the cards and hit them at the same time in the head.

Whale shoved the pool table to the side and aimed his gun at Todd, who made like he pulled out a Bo staff. As he was charging towards Whale, he was blocking every shot until the crime lord ran out of bullets. Todd slammed him with the Bo a few times, but Whale grabbed it and tossed him to the side. He then tried to use the staff as a spear, but he saw something attach to it. He looked up and saw a knife with a red light beeping on it. A second later, the bomb exploded and Whale found himself on the receiving end of several punches and kicks. It was revealed to be Logan, who was in town at the time. He put his finger under Whale's chin and made like he was getting ready to punch him. However, he moved his arm and the overweight crime boss fell on his face.

* * *

After making sure that Whale and his henchmen were in jail, Logan turned to Todd with a smirk. "Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," he said. Todd smirked back and had a black ooze—a Symbiote—cover him. "How've you been, Cloak?"

"I've been good. I've been tracking Tobias Whale for quite a while. He's been notorious in the criminal underground for drug trafficking, illegal arms dealing, and everything in between. Thanks for helping me take him down. By the way, I thought you were in St. Louis. What are you doing here?" Cloak asked.

"I've been helping the Justice League with some cases lately. The big one involves the biggest tech company in Metropolis, LexCorp. I worked with the vigilantes Bluebird and Arsenal, a guy from a different dimension that we're calling the 'Silver Lantern' and the Green Lantern Hal Jordan to uncover this plot of Luthor's. He's planning to run for President and…"

"Stop right there. You mentioned a 'Green Lantern' and a 'Silver Lantern'. What are those?"

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess you never got that memo, huh?"

"I'm afraid not, Logan. I've only heard of the Orange Lantern Corp." Logan got on his phone and pulled up a screen. "What's all this?"

"Your education on the Universe's Emotional Spectrum," Logan answered. "The Red Lanterns were formed in an area called the 'Forgotten Zone'. It earned that nickname because before the Green Lanterns were created, the Guardians created a police force called the Manhunters. However, their programming was flawed; they couldn't differentiate between the guilty and the innocent. It was because of that, they were either reprogrammed or shut down. Because of the rage the being known as Atrocitus felt, he became the founder of the Red Lantern Corp., whose rings are powered by Hatred.

"The Orange Lantern Corp. isn't really an organization at all. In fact, there's only one true Orange Lantern, whose name is Larfleeze, otherwise known as Agent Orange. His ring is powered by Greed. You don't want to hear his oath. The rest of the 'Orange Lanterns' are just his constructs. Next up is Fear, which powers the Rings of the Sinestro Corp. The leader is an ex-Green Lantern named Thaal Sinestro, who discovered that Fear is more effective than Willpower, which powers a GL Power ring. The Green Lantern Corp. was founded by the Guardians when they saw it to be much more knowledgeable than the Manhunters. The only humans in any of the Corps are all GLs: Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, and Simon Baz. Out of all of them, I've only worked with Hal, hung out with Kyle, and sparred with John."

"I think I can get the gist of the powers of the other three. Blue Lanterns represent Hope; the Indigo Tribe represents Charity; and the Star Sapphires represent Love," said Cloak. Logan nodded.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Lex Luthor is running for President. If he wins, he'll unleash a robotic police force that would render many heroic and neutral organizations, such as the Assassin's Guild and the Justice League, out of commission. It wouldn't affect Soul Society's Thirteen Court Guard Squads since the robots can't see spirits. As you know, that's exactly what a Soul Reaper is."

"And I guess you're here to monitor Luthor?" Logan nodded. "Count me in. We'll cover more of Metropolis if we split up. I'll take Pitch here to check out the north side while you check the south. I have this feeling that Superman isn't here, so we're home free to take out the criminals." The Assassin smirked and nodded before they separated.

* * *

In the Southern part of Metropolis, Nathaniel just so happened to be flying by. Actually, he had a specific destination, so 'just flying by' wouldn't have been the appropriate phrase. He smiled when he saw Logan jumping on the rooftops after stopping some common crooks. "Hey, Logan," he said as he got closer.

"Oh great," Logan said. "Where's a flyswatter when you need one?"

Nate arched an eyebrow and formed a flyswatter construct. "Will this do?"

"That was a rhetorical question, kid." Suddenly, he ducked to dodge the flyswatter. "Hey, watch it!"

"Got a fly for you. And don't call me 'kid'. You're no older than me."

"You better watch it. You might get more than 'the Bird' flipped at you." Nathaniel landed at his side.

"Don't think I don't know," he said with his arms crossed.

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked.

"I know you hate me. Why? It's because I'm grey, isn't it? Well hey, it's not easy being grey." He began to break out in a musical, but was interrupted.

"Well what do you expect? You're always horning in on other people's business, which will get you killed one of these days. On top of that, you're buddy-buddy with Lex Luthor, who is without a doubt one of the most corrupt businessmen in history. And stop that singing!"

"Yeah, I know Luthor's a sleaze. I'm only using him for my own purposes. I'm not horning in on anyone's business. If this is me being a Lantern, I've got news for you: there's lots of Lanterns out there, or didn't you know? Also why do you hate music so much? I won't sing if you don't like it. Sheesh, everyone's a critic. You know, they appreciated my singing back at Star Labs where I worked. I would've become a professional singer, but I have lifelong ambition. Star Labs also pays good money, even though I was just a janitor. Who would've thought that…" he started to say, but stopped upon realizing that he would've revealed too much."

Logan was pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't mind you being a Lantern, Nathaniel, so long as the color of that ring isn't Red, Orange, or Yellow. It's just that, aside from teaming up with an old friend to stop Tobias Whale, I've had a bad day, mainly because I found out that the metals that those robots are made from are going to take more than a few punches, kicks, and slashes to destroy. Also, my ex-girlfriend's in town, so I had to get away before I said or did something I would regret. Did you say you were a janitor?" Logan asked.

Nathaniel quirked an eyebrow at the question. "Yes, is that a problem?"

"No it's not. Hal is a test pilot and Arsenal tried to kill himself by picking a fight with Killer Croc."

"Oh, and don't worry about the robots. They look defective to me. I don't think they'll work." Logan cocked his eyebrow. "Lex is just wasting his money. But I'm not one to judge. I don't run a multi-billion dollar company bent on making weapons. I'm just a simple janitor after all. My ambition is animation, not mechanics. But nothing is without a weakness. We all have an Achilles Heel, I think the term is," said Nathaniel. "Then again, I guess it's hard to find a weakness in something that has no soul."

"Yeah, well mechanics and animation go hand-in-hand. I think there's someone I can ask about this particular investment. I know one of the most dangerous investments Luthor's ever made was toward a certain mineral. As for that friend of mine, I'm afraid I'll have to speak to him alone."

Nathaniel frowned at this, but nodded. "Okay, if that's all you wish. Friends only after all, and I'm barely a true team member. But remember, those tin cans won't be stepping on anybody any time soon." Logan glared at him and walked off. Suddenly, Nathaniel turned invisible. "Oh the wonders that this ring can do," he said. "I think someone should make more of these." Logan had no idea that Nathaniel slipped a grain of salt in his boot.

* * *

Later, Logan was scouting around until he heard an alarm go off. He looked and he saw a figure running with a bag. Since he was running from a tech store, Logan figured that he had either tech supplies or the cash register. Thanks to his Spirit Sense, he knew it was Nate. "Okay, now why would he rob a tech store?" he asked himself before getting Cloak on the horn. "Todd, I have a robbery going down from a tech store. I'm pursuing him now."

"_Got it, Logan,"_ said Cloak. _"I've got nothing on my end. I'm on my way."_ After they hung up, Logan chased after Nathaniel, cornering him in an abandoned garage.

The Assassin kicked in his 'Chidori' to light up the place. "Hold it right there," he said. "Nathaniel, what's gotten into you? First, you shake hands with Luthor, and now you're stealing tech from Radio Shack. As your probation officer, I'd like to know what gives."

"Okay, you want to know? Fine," Nathaniel said. "I technically didn't steal anything. I bought it for Luthor. I asked him to make some Power Rings for me. He told me to pick these up. Oh, I could've gone ahead and walked along quietly, but I decided to get your attention by causing a ruckus."

"Let me see the receipt." Nathaniel did as he asked just as a surprised Cloak entered the garage.

"Blur? Is that you?" he asked, obviously confused as to why Nathaniel looked like his rival.

"It's not Blur, Cloak. You remember that 'Silver Lantern' I mentioned?" The off-worlder nodded. "This is him. Cloak, meet Nathaniel. Nate, this is Cloak." After the greetings were exchanged, Logan went back to reading the receipt. He found that everything was in order. He saw that Nathaniel had a hand extended with what looked like a piece of circuitry in it. "What's this?"

"This is what Luthor said he needed for the Power Rings. I'm handing you one because I figured you and your buddy there can figure out if it's for that or for those tin cans. I'm pretty sure Luthor's smarter than he lets on."

"Well if that's the case, we'll check this thing out. Have a good night, Nathaniel," said Cloak. Nathaniel nodded, but was still a bit frustrated for earlier.

* * *

After splitting up with Logan and Cloak, Nathaniel went to LexCorp to give Lex the chips. He got to the elevator and took it to the highest floor, which is where he knew his office to be at. He knew it was better than going outside because it saved him a lot of drama and publicity. He knocked on the door and got a confirmation from Luthor to come in. "Nathaniel, my friend," Lex greeted. "I take it you got the chips?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor, I did. However, there was a robbery at the store. The guy didn't take the cash since I stopped him, but he shoved me aside and took one of the chips," Nathaniel said, lying to the Presidential candidate.

"I see. It's most unfortunate, but one missing chip isn't going to affect us. Now, come back in a few days and we'll have those rings ready for you. In the meantime, search for that crook and arrest him."

"Yes, Mr. Luthor."

Once Nathaniel left, Lex looked at Mercy with a smile. "He's lying, you know," he said, getting a nod from the secretary. "Mercy, I have a special assignment for you when the time is right. I want you to have a casual conversation with the Assassin Logan Washburn. See if you can find out more about him." He saw the daydreaming look on Mercy's face and smiled. "If you fall in love with him, that's on you."

* * *

Nate left the building, still upset that Logan mentioned a friend that he wasn't allowed to come see. He had a good idea of who it was, but didn't know that Logan knew another CEO as well. Of course it's no surprise since he's never met Ken Masters. Still, the frustration was getting to him the more he thought about it. _'Man, I still can't believe he blew me off like that!'_ he thought. _'I mean sure, he's my probation officer thanks to Green Lantern, and he tried to be nice about it, but it really ticks me off!'_ His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a suspicious-looking figure in the shadows.

The figure glanced at him before going through an alleyway. Naturally, Nathaniel was curious, so he followed. He pursued the figure, turning every corner until he wound up at the same garage he gave Logan and Cloak the chip in. He shone his light on the figure, who wore white robes with some kind of black and gold symbol on them and had his hair pointed backwards in two different directions. "Okay, pal, you better start talking because I've had a busy day," Nathaniel said.

The man smiled at him. "Of course, how rude of me," said the figure as he found himself staring down a powered-up ring that was ready to blast him. "I suppose I need to introduce myself. You may call me Brother Blood. I've come to offer you a membership."

"'Membership'? For what?"

"Why to join my little clan of course." Suddenly, several figures wearing hoods came out of the shadows. They all wore similar robes to Blood. "As you can see, we're a humble organization looking for new recruits. I always pick up the lost and neglected. And it seems with the exception of Luthor, you're the latter for the most part."

"Sorry, Blood. I'm not buying. I'm fine just the way I am."

"Oh are you now? You see, Nathaniel, you have a special gift, one that comes from that ring. I could certainly use your techniques to help usher in a new, better world. I could certainly help you utilize it much better than Luthor ever could."

"Nice try, Blood, but I'm afraid you're going to have to find someone else. It's as I said: I'm not interested."

Blood had a false somber look on his face, which turned to a malicious smile. "Very well, if that's your wish," said Blood. "I'm afraid I have to kill you now, especially since you know our secret. I can't risk you telling anyone about it." With that, the other figures attacked Nathaniel, who put up a shield with his ring. He then used it to send them back to the wall and knock them out. Blood jumped and tried to kick the Silver Lantern from above, but the latter dodged it and fired a missile construct. Blood simply side-stepped it and lunged at him, reaching through the shield he put up and choking him. "You're a fool for turning down my offer, Nathaniel! You could've found people to relate to! But you chose to remain a loner! That was an idiotic choice and now you're going to pay for it!"

Nate's response was spitting in his eye. While Blood was recovering, the Silver Lantern kicked him off. When he got back on the ground, he made a boxing glove construct and punched Blood with it. He formed his turret construct and fired multiple shots at the old man, who kept dodging. As Blood was getting closer, Nathaniel formed a baseball bat and swung at him, only for him to dodge. Blood pinned him to the wall again and grabbed his right hand, which was where the ring was. "Let's face it, boy. You're done."

"I don't think so," said Nathaniel, forming a turret on his left hand. He hit Blood multiple times until he was free. He then used a wrench construct and hit him upside the head. Somehow, it didn't knock Blood out, but he knew he was too weak to continue, so he escaped with a grudge against him. "I needed that."

Just then, Logan and Cloak arrived. "Hey, Nathaniel, are you doing okay? You look really beat, man."

"I'm fine. Thanks, Logan. I just happened to pick a fight with this guy named Brother Blood." The name surprised Logan to the point where Nathaniel knew something was up. "You're going to fill me in, aren't you?"

"Nate, you just fought the leader of the Cult of Blood, an organization who worships a demon named Trigon the Terrible. As it just so happens, his daughter, who hates him so much, is a friend of mine. She's a member of the Justice League's Covert Ops Team. Anyway, Brother Blood's real name is Sebastian Blood VIII. His whole lineage is a curse. Need I say more?" Both of them shook their heads. "Good. Now then, get some rest, you guys. I'm still trying to study the tech that Luthor's robots are made from."

"Okay, but remember what I said. It's not like those buckets of bolts are going to be of any trouble," Nathaniel said with a smirk before leaving.

"Just thought I ask, but what's his ring powered by?" asked Cloak.

"It's fueled by curiosity. I still haven't finished analyzing that chip he gave us." Pitch growled in acknowledgement.

CHAPTER 7 END

* * *

**Okay, folks, that was Chapter 7, where I brought in Brother Blood and Tobias Whale. I know who I'm bringing in next on the good side: Cyborg, Guile, and Toshiro Hitsugaya. The bad guys are a surprise.**


	8. A Chilling Surprise!

**A Chilling Surprise!**

At the Soul Society, things were just a little on the chilly side. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads did everything they could to stay warm. For Squad 11, it was constant training and fighting. For the others, especially the Kuchiki Family and Squad 6, it was to stay indoors. Of course, while Sentaro and Kiyone were taking care of Jushiro Ukitake, Rukia was with Ichigo in Karakura Town. Byakuya thanked the lucky stars that Rukia was able to use a Snow-type Zanpakuto and Ichigo was hot-blooded enough thanks to the traditional 'Kurosaki Male Bonding' ritual…which, for those of you who don't know, means that he and his dad literally fight all the time.

This brings us to Squad 2, where Soifon was trying to concentrate on the paperwork while trying to stay warm at the same time. "When did the heater stop working?" she asked herself. Yoruichi was listening as usual in her cat form. Sadly, Soifon didn't know she was there, but this gave the Flash Goddess an opportunity to scare her. She got down on the floor and snuck up on Soifon. Once she got there, she let out a cat's yell, frightening the young Captain to the point where she clung on the ceiling. After a little bit, she looked down at her desk and saw Yoruichi sitting on it.

"That should get your blood flowing," she said half-jokingly. "Perhaps we were better off in the World of the Living. After all, as spirits, we can't feel the cold there unless we were in Gigais. Besides, Logan's got good heating at his place. Maybe we should've stayed there."

All the while, Soifon was in tears from both the cold and from her mentor's scare tactics. "WHY DIDN'T WE STAY THERE!?" she exclaimed. "LOGAN, DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO CRUEL!?"

"If you keep screaming like that, he's bound to hear you. Dry up while I get changed." Soifon did that while Yoruichi was in the bedroom getting in her usual outfit. "He wasn't being cruel, Soifon," Yoruichi said as she came out. "He still cares a great deal about you."

"Oh yeah? If that was the case, why didn't he take us to Metropolis with him?"

"Either 1) he wasn't ready to introduce us to Superman; or 2) he wanted to get away before he said something he might regret or would get chewed out for. Don't take it personally, Soifon. He's got a lot on his plate with this robot army. If we're not careful, it could turn into a repeat of what happened with McSleez, only with Lex Luthor at the helm."

"Yeah, I still don't get how a mere mortal from Earth, a businessman no less, can be considered a threat to someone from Krypton."

"That's simple, my apprentice. He's invested in a bunch of Kryptonite. I heard that one of the R&amp;D Department's little experiments got loose. Captain Hitsugaya is investigating it by himself. Maybe he can check up on Logan and see how he's doing."

* * *

In St. Louis, it was very cold around the city. Logan was, as usual as of late, examining the metals. Luckily, he hasn't foregone his duties to the city. Right now, though, he was examining them with Bluebird in a video chat. _"Logan, are you sure you're okay?"_ she asked. _"You've been on Luthor's case ever since we figured out what he's planning. I don't like him any more than you do, but you're going to need some rest. I'm worried about you, man."_

"Thanks for the concern, Bluebird, but I feel like I'm so close to figuring out how Lex managed to combine these technologies despite them being so different. I tried to ask that Lana Lang person you recommended, but she doesn't know. Wayne's recommendation, Lucius Fox, is baffled by it too," said Logan, who let out a yawn. "Come to think about it, you might be right. I'll ask one more person, and then I'll take that rest you recommended."

"_You better. You're no good to anyone if you don't get enough sleep. I know I'm one to talk, but unlike you, I sleep in."_ The two shared a smile before saying goodnight. Logan decided to call his last contact.

When the call was answered, the screen showed an African-American who was half-human and half-robot. However, the only parts that were human skin were his face, aside from his left eye, and the right side of his head. The rest of his body was cybernetic, with a glowing red symbol on the torso. _"Hey, Logan,"_ he greeted. _"What do you need?"_

"Vic, I need something answered that Lana Lang and Lucius Fox were unable to figure out. I have to find out how Lex was able to combine these different technologies without causing any mayhem in the systems."

"_Hmm. I'll see what I can find. You look tired. I'm sure somebody told you this, but you need to rest. Send the schematics…each…and I'll…I can…"_ The call was interrupted by static before Logan lost power.

"That's not good. Why hasn't the backup generator kicked in?" He grabbed a thick jacket in case he came across what he was afraid of. He went through the tunnel exit connected to his hideout (after having to pull it open) and walked until he found a sewer lid that was a good distance away. After a failed attempt to push it open, he found out that it was froze shut. Logan reached into his pocket and got a set of titanium knuckles.

"Shoryuken!" he shouted. The lid popped open and he jumped out. Once he was all the way out, the lid landed back over the hole. He had a look around and saw that there was ice everywhere, much to his astonishment.

"Now what is it with you and tunnels?" asked a voice. Logan looked on a building and saw Toshiro sitting on a building. "How are you, my friend?"

"I'm fine, Captain. As for the tunnel question, they come in pretty handy."

Toshiro had a good look at the city. "Does it always freeze this much this time off year?"

"No it doesn't. This is unnatural, whatever it is. The snow, the ice, all the power knocked out. Something must've caused all of this. I was actually on my way to the power plant to check it out if you want to come."

"Well I was dispatched to find an experiment that broke out of the Research &amp; Development Institute. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check there."

* * *

They found a snowmobile that was in decent shape, so they rode to the power plant on that, taking notice of how the power throughout the city was down. It wasn't a pleasant sight to see from Logan's point of view. When they got about halfway to the power plant, they had to stop. They were on a bridge. From that bridge, they could see two figures. One was a man in a dark blue shirt and pants with machinery on his torso and his head in a glass dome. The other was a young woman wearing a black suit whose skin was covered in permafrost.

Toshiro was surprised. He figured that it was the experiment that did this since Akon said that it had powers similar to him. "My God," he said. "How could that experiment do this to those people? It's madness."

Logan could tell that the Squad 10 Captain was very worried about the two individuals, but he knew otherwise. "Save your concerns for someone else, Captain," he said. "Those two can dish out the cold and survive in this temperature. The woman's name is Killer Frost, but she doesn't look like the one I know. As for bucket-head there, that's Victor Fries, who can't survive outside of sub-zero temperatures without that suit, hence his codename Mister Freeze."

They got off the snowmobile and jumped down to the Ice Villains' level as Killer Frost turned around. "Looks like we've got company, Victor," said Killer Frost. Freeze turned around and saw the two of them. "Hmm. I'm not picking any warmth up from the kid. Now the Assassin, on the other hand, feels ripe."

"You look to drain Logan Washburn's energy, yes?" asked Freeze, getting a nod from Frost. "Then be my guest. You need the warmth to survive." With that, Frost dashed for Logan, something Toshiro noticed. The Squad 10 Captain sideswiped her, which put him in Freeze's range. He fired the shot and hit Toshiro with an ice blast, obviously not knowing that he thrives in cold weather. With all his strength, Toshiro broke out of the ice and charged for Freeze. When the ice villain froze the ground below his feet, the Captain jumped up and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back. "Hmm. It seems to me that you are no ordinary child."

"You don't know who you're dealing with!"

As Toshiro was dealing with Freeze, Logan was having a hard time with this new Killer Frost. She was obviously enjoying the fight while Logan too busy trying to think up warm thoughts and dodging her at the same time. He knew something was off when he discovered that all she was trying to do was grab him. "C'mon, tall, dark, and handsome," she said. "All I want is just a simple hug and kiss to stay warm."

"You expect me to believe that? I heard what Freeze said! There is no way I'm letting you get to me, Frost! Besides, I don't even know you!" exclaimed Logan.

"Then here comes our chance!" She jumped on the Assassin-Vigilante, who did his best to keep her back. Finally, he had enough. He kicked her off, moved out of the way and threw a Trick Knife where she was going to land. It turned out to be a net formed on impact. She tried to struggle, but then she got an idea. "Oh, do you treat all your dates this way?"

"Put a pin in that." With that, he went to help Toshiro with Freeze, but saw that the Squad 10 Captain was having trouble with him. He got out his titanium knuckles again and went to punch the glass dome. Freeze spotted him, however and froze him right on the spot. As Toshiro was about to come in, the villain grabbed his face and slammed him on the ground. After that, he threw him towards Logan. "I-I don't g-get it. H-H-How on Earth d-did you d-do that?" asked Logan, obviously weak from the cold.

"It's quite simple really. We've had to deal with the Flash Family as well. Catching you and your friend here was only a little more difficult. And now…" he began before being hit by a jeep. The two of them looked and saw Guile in the driver's seat and Vic riding shotgun.

"You two look like a mess," said Guile, who wore an Air Force coat. Vic used his Sonic Cannon and broke Logan free from the ice. "Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, meet Soul Society's Squad 10 Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya. You already know Logan."

"Thanks for the intro, Guile. Now we'd like you to meet Victor Fries, or as he's better known as, Mister Freeze," said Toshiro.

"Who's the girl in the net, Logan's latest date?" Guile asked jokingly.

"Oh sure, if she wasn't so freaking vampiric," said Logan sarcastically. "That's the new Killer Frost. I don't know what happened to Louise Lincoln."

"That's simple as well, love," Frost said, able to finally break out of the net. "She was killed. I went through a similar cryogenics accident as she did. However, as you figured out, I need warmth from a living human to survive." This made Logan grit his teeth while Freeze got up.

"Guile, how long can you survive in the cold?"

"Longer than you, kid," Guile answered.

"Good. I'm afraid that you and Captain Hitsugaya are going to have to deal with Freeze. Cyborg and I can take on Killer Frost." The other three nodded. Charging for Killer Frost, Logan threw another Trick Knife, then jumped backwards over Cyborg, who fired his Sonic Cannon. The knife was a Sonic Emitter, which was amplified by the cannon. While it did break a few car windows and crack some of the pillars on the bridge, the combo was enough to send Killer Frost backwards and knock her out.

Toshiro kept using his Zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru, to absorb and reflect Freeze's ice blasts while Guile got in close. "Sonic Boom!" exclaimed the Air Force Major. The blast hit Freeze and caused him to stumble a bit, allowing Toshiro to charge in. Before the Soul Reaper Captain could get close to Freeze, he was hit by an unknown force. The five still-conscious fighters looked up and saw a dark version of Toshiro. He had dark grey hair as opposed to white, black sclera, and the shihakusho was black while the haori was dark grey.

Toshiro was stunned to think about how this was possible, as was Logan. Freeze decided to use the opportunity to attack the latter and put him on ice. Unfortunately for him, he didn't take Logan's Spirit Sense into account. The Assassin dodged and charged towards him while kicking in 'Chidori'. The Toshiro lookalike put him on ice, though. Guile tried to charge at him, but was frozen as well. Cyborg saw no other option but to retreat, especially since he knew that Logan would be weak if he stayed in the cold for so long. After Cyborg took himself, Toshiro, Logan, and Guile through a Boom Tube he generated, the Dark Toshiro scoffed. "Coward," he said.

* * *

At the Hall of Justice, Cyborg put Guile and Logan in a certain spot and used his Sonic Cannon to free them. Logan walked over to a heater and began to warm up. Toshiro was sitting in one of the seats thinking about his new enemy. Obviously, it was a dark version of him, so he had an Oni Hyorinmaru as his Zanpakuto. He just didn't know how he used his power since Cyborg had them make a retreat. He looked at Logan and realized the Assassin's weakness, which would give Dark Toshiro an advantage. He silently cursed Mayuri as he got his cell phone out. When he called, the Captains were in the meeting room. _"Captain Hitsugaya, how goes your progress with retrieving the experiment?"_ asked Head Captain Kyoraku.

"Not so well, Head Captain. I joined up with Logan on the search since St. Louis was frozen over. We went to the power plant to see if it was there and to see if we could get it up and running again since the power was out. Captain Kurotsuchi could've told me that the experiment was like me in every way!" he exclaimed, mainly at Mayuri.

"_Uh, did I forget to mention that? Well it was on a need-to-know basis,"_ said the mad scientist.

"If by that, you mean that I needed to know, then you're right. Unfortunately, he's got an advantage over our Assassin friend. It turns out that Logan's prime weakness, besides acrophobia and arachnophobia, is the cold, which gives the Dark Hitsugaya an advantage. We also ran into Guile and the Justice Leaguer known as Cyborg. Before the experiment attacked us, we faced off against a couple of ice villains named Mister Freeze and Killer Frost. We're going to need their backstories…" Logan sneezed, making Toshiro look up and see him in a bad state. "…and some chicken noodle soup for Logan."

"_Understood, Captain Hitsugaya,"_ said Kyoraku. _"Cyborg can probably tell you Freeze and Frost's personal backgrounds. We'll send Lieutenant Kotetsu with the soup. I'm sure the Justice League can spare a few blankets."_ Toshiro nodded and hung up. He saw that Cyborg arrived from another Boom Tube carrying the parts that Logan was analyzing.

"Is that what I think it is?" the Captain asked.

"You bet. This is the scrap pile that Logan's been analyzing for a good long while. I don't know who told him before, but someone said he needed to rest. Naturally, he was too stubborn to listen," said Cyborg.

"Well excuse me for wanting to stop Luthor as soon as possible, Victor," Logan remarked.

"I suggest you rest. Cyborg can analyze the parts and find what you've been trying to." Logan nodded. The Zeta Tube opened up and Bluebird came running to check on him.

"You don't look so good," she said. Logan didn't bother to quip about that, instead choosing to lie down as she got some blankets. "There, now you look nice and cozy." He smiled at Batman's young protégé as Cyborg approached them.

"What's up, Vic?" he asked.

"What's up is that I found out the method behind the madness of Killer Frost and Mr. Freeze," said the half-human hero. This piqued the interests of both vigilantes as well as Guile and Toshiro. "Victor Fries is a scientist who mainly studies in cryogenics. One day, a couple approached him and asked him to heal their sick daughter Nora. During that time, Fries fell in love with her and believed her to be his wife. He does what he does for her sake. As you know, he suffers from a condition that prevents him from going out in temperatures warmer than sub-zero without that suit."

"And what about this new Killer Frost?" asked Guile.

"Her name is Caitlin Snow. She was a student of the last Killer Frost, Louise Lincoln, who died through circumstances currently unknown. During a mission issued by Star Labs in the arctic, she was ambushed by H.I.V.E agents. Snow grabbed one of the cryogen pipelines and froze the agents, but as a result, she became what she is today. She's still looking for a cure, but until then, she needs to absorb heat in order to survive."

"Wow. You kind of have to feel sorry for the two of them," said Bluebird.

A Senkaimon opened up in front of the Hall of Justice, which Yoruichi and Soifon popped out of. Soifon was carrying a bowl with the chicken noodle soup. They opened the door and looked in awe at the site. It was lined with memorabilia from the Justice League. This even included the statues of veteran heroes such as Wildcat, Captain Atom, and even Batman. They saw a door that said 'League Members Only', so they knocked. Cyborg answered the door. "Sorry to be so rude, but the door said 'League Members Only'," he said.

The girls had a sad expression on their faces. "We brought this for Logan clear from the Soul Society. Originally, Lieutenant Kotetsu was going to bring it, but we volunteered instead," explained Yoruichi. Cyborg looked to Toshiro, who nodded, giving him the signal to let them in. When the two Soul Reapers came in, they saw Bluebird with her head resting at the Assassin's side. "Is she Justice League?"

"She's a member of the Covert Ops Team. I'm not going to tell you her real name since the Bat family likes to keep their identities secret, but her codename is Bluebird. She's Batman's latest partner after the last Robin was killed. Bluebird and Logan first met on a covert ops mission led by him and the Green Lantern Hal Jordan. The other two members were this guy that was pawned off on Logan as a parolee who calls himself the 'Silver Lantern', and Arsenal, otherwise known as the original Speedy. The only protégés Bats has left are her, Batgirl, Red Robin, and the Red Hood."

"Well it looks to me like in that short of time, Little Miss Bluebird here developed a small crush on him." Suddenly, Bluebird opened her eyes and saw the two new faces. Yoruichi was smiling while Soifon was scowling. The Squad 2 Captain put the bowl on the coffee table in front of the couch Logan was lying on. Yoruichi turned to Toshiro, who was meditating on what to do. "So, any ideas on how to deal with your doppelganger?" she asked.

"Easier said than done," he said. "There's also Mister Freeze and Killer Frost to deal with as well. I'm not sure how I can find him again." He then got an idea. "What if I was to track him using my own Spiritual Pressure?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow. "If that thing is made from what I think it's made from, then it should be easy."

"You're still going to need some help with the ice villains."

"That's where Cyborg and Guile come in. As you can see, Guile's training in the military has got him in a good enough shape to resist the cold." Suddenly, they heard some slurping going on, so they looked and saw an empty bowl. "Well it looks like Isane's recipe came in handy. You're looking better already."

Not responding immediately, Logan did twenty-five push-ups and saw that his strength was back. "I feel better. You can handle that Dark Hitsugaya while I help Guile and Cyborg with the ice villains."

"Not what I had in mind. I'm going to need your help with him. Use your Spirit Sense to track down the three of them, then we can take them on."

* * *

After a bit, the four of them arrived back in St. Louis, leaving Bluebird, Yoruichi, and Soifon behind. Logan donned a new coat. Built for survival in cold weather, this white coat had a reinforced liner for extra warmth. As usual, he had a belt for the Trick Knives and his sword on his back. The only drawback was the extra weight it put on him since it hindered his movement. Guile just wore the camouflage coat that he wore earlier.

They approached the downtown area where they saw Freeze and Killer Frost. From the sounds of things, they were demanding that someone reveal the location of Logan's hideout. He gave them a glare about half as intense as Batman's, which still scared Cyborg. He and Toshiro looked up and saw Dark Toshiro on the top of a building that had an antiques store. The Assassin and the Soul Reaper looked at each other and nodded. Toshiro disappeared while Logan got prepared to pounce on the doppelganger. He timed it right and grabbed Dark Toshiro's head, taking him to the outskirts of town while avoiding a blast from Mister Freeze.

The former scientist grumbled a bit until Cyborg and Guile came into view, obviously eager to fight. "It seems to me that these people are very supportive of this Assassin. I don't understand why, nor do I understand how he seems to have friends in the Air Force and the Justice League. However, it seems your time has run out," said Freeze. He fired a blast, only for Guile to dodge to the left and Cyborg to fly up using his propulsion rockets. Killer Frost was charging for Cyborg only to get cut off by Guile's 'Flash Kick'.

Once she recovered, she fired icicle spears at the Air Force Major while Cyborg took on Freeze. Guile dodged each and every one of them, flipped upside-down, and kicked her in the face. He finished off by slamming both of his hands on her head and doing a 'Sonic Boom' on her, knocking her out again. He then turned his attention to Freeze, who was being dealt with by Cyborg. Unlike Frost, Freeze had a perfect offense-defense balance, able to keep the other Victor at bay. Cyborg had enough of that, so he charged his Sonic Cannons and fired at the scientist, throwing him off balance and shattering the glass dome. Guile put in some ear plugs and kicked Freeze down, allowing Cyborg to stop. "Well that takes care of that," the Major said.

Cyborg nodded. "Now we have to find the Captain and Logan."

* * *

In the park, Logan dropped off Dark Toshiro who, despite the long jump and the harsh drop-off, still had a sadistic smile on his face. The Assassin got his sword out and was ready to fight. Dark Toshiro backed off to avoid the blade. Toshiro attacked from behind, but the dark doppelganger grabbed the blade and threw him to Logan, who caught him. "Try to focus next time, Captain," said the vigilante.

"Good advice," Toshiro quipped back. He then got his Zanpakuto ready for Bankai state. "Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" After shouting the technique, the Squad 10 Captain had the wings and tail formed from ice. He also had what looked like a couple of shurikens floating on each side of him. Dark Toshiro began to laugh at him. "Do you mind telling me what's so funny?"

"Is that really the best you got? And they call me the copycat." Toshiro scowled as the doppelganger prepped his Zanpakuto in the same manner. "Bankai, Daiguren Oni Hyorinmaru!" When the dust cleared, they saw that Dark Toshiro had the same form as the original, only the wings and tail being a darker shade of blue.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not surprised. I've had Hyorinmaru since my days in the Academy, so I knew you had a dark version of it, since you're a dark version of me."

"In other words, Dark Hitsugaya, you _are_ the copycat," Logan added. The conclusion angered the experiment, so he charged recklessly towards his opponents, only for Logan to clothesline him. He saw that one of Dark Toshiro's shurikens broke, which meant that, due to a lack of concentration, the Bankai was sealed back. Toshiro stabbed his Zanpakuto into the faker's chest and caused it to fade away. "Going into your Bankai state was a waste of time. Why'd you do it?"

"That's an easy question. Normally, I wouldn't do that. But since he was a dark version of me created by the R&amp;D Institute, I came to the conclusion that he had a similar Zanpakuto, and therefore a similar Bankai. I wouldn't have been able to get him to recklessly charge like that without your help. Nice move, by the way."

"It's called a clothesline, a move often used in the WWE. You should try it sometime. It came in handy for me at the tournament."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll also ask Ichigo to come to the Soul Society with a camera to view Kurotsuchi's reaction when he hears the news. I'm sure you'll want to see it."

* * *

The next day, Logan was sitting on the couch laughing his butt off at Mayuri's reaction to the news. The mad scientist was horrified that Dark Toshiro was destroyed, so Logan thanked God that Ichigo managed to get the reaction on tape and send him the video. "It may not be as good as an episode of 'Hee Haw', but at least it beats a Justin Bieber video any day," he said while eating popcorn.

CHAPTER 8 END

* * *

**Okay, so that was Chapter 8. We've been having some cold weather in the US, so I thought I'd post this. The next chapter will have Nathaniel and Hal Jordan as well as Hawkman, Wildcat, and the Green Lantern John Stewart.**

**Just for the record, I can't stand Justin Bieber, so that's why I put that reference in there.**


	9. Birds of a Feather

**Birds of a Feather**

In a certain part of the forest lied a grave. The encryption on the tombstone was of an alien language, one that only very few people on Earth know how to translate. Also on the tombstone were carvings of what looked like a mace and a woman with wings. A figure stood over the grave. He looked like a male version of the woman on the tombstone. This man wore gold harnesses in an 'X' pattern connected by a hawk symbol, green pants with gold edges on the boots, a gold mask in the shape of a hawk's head, and gold greaves on his wrists. He also carried an axe with him as well.

He looked at the grave in mourning, knowing who the fallen woman was. He continued to mourn her even now. "Shayera, if there's anything I could do to make it up to you, I would," he said. "Sadly, I haven't the power to bring you back, my love. I will find your treacherous brother, and he will pay for this."

* * *

Logan was at a place called Grant's Gym with one of his mentors. Another one was coaching him from the sidelines. The one Logan was sparring with was an African-American man with black hair on his head and a thick beard. The one doing the coaching was an old man who was in surprisingly good shape. He looked like he seen a lot in his days. His hair was grey and he was in a pair of khaki pants and a button up shirt. This was Ted Grant, the civilian identity of Wildcat who owned the gym. The other one was John Stewart, one of the Green Lanterns of Earth. "That's it, kid. Give him a right hook," said Ted.

Logan didn't say anything, simply blocking John's punch and punching back. Cammy was also watching, still in awe that Logan even knew how to box. The last time she saw him box was against Balrog in the tournament. John and Logan went to punch each other again, but stopped, knowing that time was up. "That was some good practice, kid. Maybe next time, you'll knock me down," John said.

"Please, I haven't even beaten Charlie Nash. What makes you think I can take you down in a real fight?" asked Logan.

"First off, there's confidence. You just have to keep it up. Second, there's the fact that Charlie Nash was an Air Force Lieutenant while I'm an ex-Marine turned Green Lantern. By the way, I think you have a date to get to." Logan looked and saw his Delta Red girlfriend in a pair of grey pants, a red shirt, and a grey jacket. The set was complete with a pair of black high heels, her hair in a ponytail as opposed to the usual pigtails, and the lack of a hat. "I suggest you don't keep her waiting," John teased, knowing that Logan was staring at her.

"At least I have someone waiting for me," the Assassin shot back. This surprised John a little, but he got his joking smile back. "Just let me get washed up and I'll be ready to go, okay, Baby Doll?"

"You got it, Darling," Cammy said.

"Kids these days," quipped Ted.

* * *

After Logan got cleaned up, he and Cammy went to the New York Natural History Museum. Logan normally hated coming to this city, or even the state for that matter. He relented when Cammy pulled the cute 'puppy dog eyes' routine on him. He found it irresistible when she and Chun-Li did it, but also found it ironic on the Brit's part, mainly due to her love for cats. They went to the display about ancient Egypt and admired the hieroglyphs there. Also on display were vases, weaponry, masonry tools, and even animatronic figures. Logan was dressed in his usual t-shirt, jeans, and boots, but as a change-up for this date with Cammy, he also wore a nice jacket she bought him in lieu of his usual hoodie.

The couple got to one display they were particularly interested in. It was a wall depicting two winged people holding hands while many non-winged figures bowed to them. "Is there something off about that picture to you?" asked Cammy.

"Yeah, there is. I've read all the history books, even the Assassins' Guild's, and I don't recall the Ancient Egyptians worshipping a pair of angels," Logan stated.

"They're not angels," said a voice. The voice came from a man dressed in brown pants, a black turtleneck, a brown jacket, and had black hair. "They are from another world. At least, that's what I read from the hieroglyphs. The name's Carter Hall. I'm the curator here at this museum."

"I heard of you. You're biggest field is in archaeology," said Cammy. "You even bring your finds to the museum to be observed."

"Yes, you're right. The Ancient Egyptians worshipped these supposed aliens as their king and queen. However, there is a certain tragic event that caused the deaths of them, most of which is unknown. Rumor has it, though, that their drinks were poisoned by one of the servants. This is highly debatable, though." Carter had a good look at Logan and found him studying the ancient weaponry. "Ah, I see you found the weapons part of the exhibit. You know, these bows and arrows were used by the Egyptian Army."

"Yeah, and the spears were utilized by the guard," said Logan. Carter looked at him in an impressed manner. "I know my way around a few weapons."

"So it's no wonder you know about them. That's good. Even a weapon's history is a good thing to study. What is your most frequently studied long-range weapon?"

"Revolvers. I'm mostly an Old West buff, but it doesn't hurt to delve into different cultures. I mostly study around the American Civil War."

"Ah, yes. The Alamo. That was a hard-fought battle indeed. Though, if you really think about it, neither side won that war. Anyway, I have to get back to my office. Enjoy your visit here."

"We will, Mr. Hall," said Cammy. "He's a nice guy, but a bit on the wrong side. Last I checked, there was a victor. I just can't place who it was."

"Actually, Cammy, there never was a winner. Either way, it never counted towards the tally on the U.S. War Count."

"Hey, Logan," said another voice. Said Assassin pinched the bridge of his nose as Nathaniel approached them. "What are you doing here? Is this your sister?" Cammy was freaked out at the curious behavior.

"No she's not. She's my girlfriend, Nathaniel. Cammy White, this is Nathaniel, or as GL and I like to call him, the 'Silver Lantern'."

"It's nice to meet you." He looked at the display and got a little carried away. "This is so cool! I can't believe the Ancient Egyptians had rulers that bore wings." Suddenly, he felt Logan force him back to their side of the velvet rope. "What'd you do that for?"

"Can't you read? The sign clearly states 'Do Not Touch The Exhibits'. Or did you forget your reading glasses at home?"

"Hey, ease up, man. I didn't see the sign. Although, when you think about it, I guess it should have been obvious."

Cammy shook her head. "Logan honey, can we go now. I think it's obvious that the date's ruined," she said, glaring at Nathaniel.

"Just a sec. Nate, you must've come here for a reason."

"Actually, I did. I saw some weird looking guy driving a car earlier. From what I could tell, he wore a blue uniform, 'V'-shaped icons on it, and had brown hair." The description shocked Logan, so he checked his cell phone to match the description with one of the criminals in the database. "Did you get something?"

"You better believe it. That's Captain Boomerang, one of the Flash's Rouges. As you can guess, his biggest gimmick is boomerang-themed gadgets." Logan looked to Cammy, who nodded. "Date's ruined anyway. Knocking Captain Boomerang around would help our day."

* * *

They got to the nearest bank where Captain Boomerang was at and waited for him to come out. They decided to let Logan handle this since it was his and Cammy's date and Cammy was still in her outfit. He left his jacket with them and went inside despite the police warnings. He went into the bank while Boomerang had his back turned. The rouge was getting tired of waiting for the young woman behind the teller's booth to get the cash in the bag. "C'mon, Missy," he said. "I told you that this was a villain's withdrawal."

Boomerang felt a tap on his shoulder, so he looked and saw Logan, but didn't recognize him without the jacket. "Here's my deposit!" he exclaimed, punching the crook in the face. The bag of money dropped as he stumbled into the booth. Boomerang got angry, but before he could do anything, Logan grabbed him and drug him outside so nothing in the bank would be broken and no one would be hurt. As Captain Boomerang was trying to get up, Logan kicked him down the stairs. The crook got angry and pushed a button on his uniform. This made a pair of wings come out in the shape of a boomerang.

As he got in the air, a winged figure came down and punched him. The winged man tried to slash at him as Logan jumped off a wall. Boomerang moved, making the two of them crash into one another and fall back on the ground. "So what do you call yourself, Birdman?" Logan asked after recovering.

"I call myself Hawkman. What's your codename, Mud?" Hawkman retorted.

"You know I had him, right?"

"As if. You would've missed him by a mile. You don't have any weapons on you."

"I don't need them for someone like Captain Boomerang." Suddenly, they heard someone clearing their throat.

"Are you two done arguing?" said John, who had just arrived. He had his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. He captured Boomerang in a bubble.

* * *

After getting Captain Boomerang in a paddy wagon, John looked at Logan and Hawkman. "I can't believe you two were arguing over who had a common crook! All it took was just one of you two and you didn't even need superpowers!" John lectured. Logan put his head down in shame while Hawkman crossed his arms in a stubborn manner. Nathaniel was shocked that there was another Green Lantern besides Hal in this world. In his own, there was just one and he was the Green's avatar. "I'm talking about you too, Hawkman. At least Logan's old enough to know that that argument shouldn't have taken place."

"Yeah, you're right, Lantern. It shouldn't have taken place. If he'd have just stood aside, Captain Boomerang would've been in jail and you wouldn't have had to interfere," said Hawkman, catching Logan's attention. John decided to let the Assassin say his piece.

"Excuse me. 'If I'd have just stood aside'? It's as I said, I can handle common criminals like Boomerang without the use of my weapons. Besides, if I really have to, I have a special little trick up my sleeve to take care of them. You can ask Solomon Grundy about that," said the Assassin. Before the two could continue further, they were separated by a green wall construct that John created.

"That's enough, you two! Logan, you do have a point. Hal told me about that special little trick of yours that you didn't even show Green Arrow or Nightwing. However, it doesn't mean I'm taking sides in this argument. Now I want you to shake hands and move on." Hawkman didn't even bother, only letting out a snort and flying away. As soon as he got out of earshot, John spoke up again. "You know, I'm not crazy about Hawkman either."

"Then why break up the fight. If you'd have just given me five minutes with that bird brain…"

"It wouldn't have solved anything. You must've been having a bad day, so come back to the gym and let out the stress on the punching bag." Cammy whistled to the two and showed them that Nate was gone. "Now where did he go?"

"Don't worry. I got a lock on him with Spirit Sense. It won't be easy to lose him."

* * *

Meanwhile, it turned out that Nathaniel was tailing Hawkman, who didn't even know he was there. He was curious about Hawkman in general, which was common for bird-themed heroes it seemed. For example, he was curious about Bluebird the week prior, but couldn't find her. He also got into Raven's personal space and got his butt kicked because of it. Raven thanked the Lord that he hasn't found out about Nightwing and Red Robin yet or else Batman would have his hide.

The Silver Lantern saw Hawkman diving into a certain part of the forest, so he flew in behind as well. He got to a clearing and saw the winged hero kneeling at a grave. Nathaniel started to move, but stepped on a twig, alerting Hawkman. "Who goes there? Show yourself!" he shouted. Nate came out with his hands up. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here, kid. You're trespassing on sacred ground."

"Fine, I'll just leave and not come back. Cross my heart and hope to die," said Nate.

"You really think I'm going to let you leave that easily, don't you? I'm a pacifist, kid, but I'm afraid that I have to fight anyone who comes here." Hawkman charged at Nathaniel, who put up a shield. Unfortunately, this proved to be ineffective as the winged hero cut right through it like it was paper. Nate was shocked, so he went to the air for a breather. Hawkman chased after him. The Silver Lantern formed a hammer and tried to knock him own. However, he simply destroyed it too. Afterwards, he knocked Nathaniel back to the ground.

Nate decided to try a different approach. His ring tried to read Hawkman's mind, but the helmet wasn't allowing him to. Regardless, Nathaniel formed a construct that looked like a maze and used the invisibility function as well. After walking around for a bit, Hawkman came to a dead end. As Nate was trying to sneak up on him, he accidently stepped on a twig. The winged warrior feigned ignorance as the Silver Lantern got closer. Much to his surprise, Hawkman turned around and clocked him on the head, knocking him out and deactivating the maze.

* * *

At the gym, Logan was punching away at the bag while Cammy was holding it. John was on the bench press with Ted as the spotter. Cammy was back in her usual uniform while Logan was in his jeans and a sleeveless black shirt. She saw that he was reeling back, so she moved out of the way as he punched the bag hard. It knocked it off its hook and sent it hurling to a wall. "Sorry to scare you like that, Cammy," Logan said.

"N-No worries…hun," she said, still shocked at the sheer strength of the punch. John and Ted were just as surprised, but the former was more shocked that the wall was able to take it.

"I guess you were that frustrated at Hawkman, weren't you?" asked the Green Lantern. "What I'd like to know is how on Earth did that wall take that much force from the punching bag being hit that hard and not have a crack in it?"

It was Ted's turn to answer. "That's simple, John. I had the walls reinforced with Titanium in case Superman or one of his protégés came in. I guarantee you that not even Steel can break this." They heard Logan's cell phone go off, so he answered it.

"What's up, Nathaniel?" he asked.

"_This isn't Nathaniel,"_ said the voice on the other end.

"What the-? Where is he, Hawkman?" This shocked the other three present in the room.

"_He's perfectly safe. We're at a clearing in the forest. I'll kick in his homing beacon so you'll know where to find him."_ After that, they hung up. Cammy dug into hers and Logan's bag and handed him his sword, jacket, and hidden blades.

"Now hold on, kid," said Ted. They looked at him as he removed his clothes, revealing a costume under them. He reached back and covered the top half of his face with a cowl in the shape of a panther. "You're not going to leave without the Wild Man, are you?"

"Ted, this is Hawkman we're dealing with. You could get yourself killed." They saw that Wildcat had a smirk on his face. "Okay, if you really want to."

After the other three left, John changed into his Green Lantern uniform and contacted someone. "Hey, it's me. I might need some help here," he said.

* * *

Logan, Cammy, and Wildcat got to the forest where Hawkman said Nathaniel would be. As they were walking, they saw the winged man waiting for them. Logan looked at one of the branches and saw Nate in a net. The Silver Lantern grinned nervously and shrugged as well. "I see you've come," said Hawkman. "You know it was foolish of any of you to come here."

"That's okay with us. If you don't mind, we'd like to take our friend back," said Logan.

"But I do mind. He trespassed on sacred ground." Logan looked and saw what Hawkman meant. A tombstone was standing behind him. "And now, you're on sacred ground as well. Prepare to do battle, kid. I hope you put up much more of a fight than he did."

"Sorry I can't get out of this so easily, Logan. It seems my ring has no effect on him," Nate said.

"That armor and axe are made of Nth metal. Your ring is magic as opposed to the Lanterns in this universe, Nate. Nth metal disrupts it. This essentially means that that little trick of mine isn't going to work either." Hawkman smirked at the knowledge Logan had about Nth metal before attacking him. Logan put up his sword and blocked the axe that was swinging down on him. He then planted his foot on Hawkman's stomach and flipped him backwards before putting his sword up and rushing towards him. "Shoryuken!" he exclaimed.

Before the winged warrior could recover, the attack hit him in the chin. He grabbed Logan's wrist, brought him into the sky, and tossed him to the ground hard. Logan landed on his back as Hawkman dove down with another slash from his axe. The Assassin rolled out of the way and dodged the blade of the weapon, much to Cammy and Wildcat's relief. He kicked Hawkman in the face and threw one of his Trick Knives, which turned out to be a shock emitter. _'Incredible,'_ Hawkman thought as he was recovering. _'I have more experience than he does, but he's using strategy and gadgets like Batman and Green Arrow. I believe I might have found my rival in combat.'_

The winged hero charged for Logan, who charged back, but both of them were surrounded by green orbs. They looked in the air and saw John descending with Hal Jordan. Hal's orb was surrounding Hawkman while John had Logan in his. "Now what did I say before?" asked John.

"It's not like we were fighting over who had a common crook this time," said Hawkman, getting a glare from Logan.

"Katar, you know what he means," said Hal. All of a sudden, it clicked with Logan and Cammy while Wildcat smirked.

"Wait, what's your name?" asked Logan.

"My name is Katar Hol. As you must specialize in the extraterrestrial and supernatural, you must be Logan Washburn. You must also know that I'm from the planet Thanagar."

"And that grave must belong to someone you loved, doesn't it?" Katar nodded. "Your name on Earth is Carter Hall, the museum curator, isn't it? If someone were to trespass on my loved ones' graves, I'd be ticked too."

"You're smarter than you look." Logan scowled at him, but smirked afterwards. "That belongs to the late daughter of the King of Thanagar. After some treachery, her brother, Corsar Thal, took the throne. The princess' name was Shayera, who was also my greatest enemy due to Corsar faking his death. He and I never really liked each other." By then, John and Hal let them out of their bubbles as they were finally talking to each other. "By the way, that sword of yours looks like it's from the medieval era. Who's was it?"

"This belonged to the Assassin Mentor Altair Ibn la-Ahad. Its previous owner was Ezio Auditore da Firenze, however. This thing has some years on it, but I've managed to maintain its condition. Like most of my arsenal, it's made from a combination of Titanium and Nth metal. I've sort of been using quite a bit of it."

Hawkman smirked at the Assassin. "You're alright, kid."

"Logan, I hate to ruin this moment of a newfound friendship, but Nathaniel's escaped," said Cammy. Logan and Hawkman looked and saw that the net was cut open.

"How did he do that? I thought his particular ring was made from magic."

"I'm starting to think that Nathaniel's ring isn't entirely magic." Logan then smirked. "I'm also starting to like that little weasel more and more. Anyways, we have to get back to St. Louis. I took a break at Bluebird and Cyborg's recommendations, but we're investigating a robot army that Lex Luthor's built in his company."

"Well count me in. I'd be happy to take them on when he releases them," said Hawkman, holding out his hand. Logan shook it in response.

CHAPTER 9 END

* * *

**Okay, so that was the chapter that introduced Hawkman. This was also the first time that Logan has genuinely fought another hero, not counting Nathaniel. Now he and Cammy have to get back and investigate the scrap pile that Logan made of Luthor's robots. What will happen next?**


	10. Attack of the Clowns!

**Attack of the Clowns!**

In the hideout, Logan had invited Red Robin and Bluebird over to help him with the scrap pile. They had discovered that Lex used his own motherboard design to combine the different technologies instead of one of the different planets'. Tim and Harper looked at him in a curious manner, figuring he found something…well, Tim was. Bluebird was looking on the monitors for a closer look at the circuitry as well as trouble in the city. So far, there was none of the latter, but a news broadcast was on one of the screen. She knew which channel it was on since Bruce had her and Tim watching it to keep up with current events. She looked at the clock and shook her head, knowing that a certain critic was about to do his usual rant against the Justice League. _"Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of _The Godfrey Globe_,"_ said a host, catching the guys' attention. _"I'm your host: G. Gordon Godfrey."_

"Oh not this guy," Logan complained. He has a major dislike for political news, mostly showing favor to the weather, but Godfrey took the cake since he has shown major criticism against the Justice League, even though the Assassin wasn't part of it.

"_Today, we're here to talk about one of the Justice League's most unexpected members. This has come to a head since a TV studio has decided that Logan Washburn, St. Louis' vigilante and staunch member of the Assassin's Guild, needed an archenemy to boost their ratings."_

"Oh come on, you jerk! Logan's not even in the League because of his killing record!" Bluebird exclaimed.

"_This, folks, is what these Leaguers care about: their image. I said it before and I'll say it again. Image is all that matters to them. As long as they can cash in on their image, they feel that they can do what they want. Well it looks like the young Assassin has decided to do the same. It's sad to see how many saps have lined up to be an archvillain to a man whose killing record has stained the Justice League's so-called 'no-kill rule'. I bet they do that in secret and have him set it all up. Even the Batman must be cashing in on this."_

"This guy is a real pain," said Red Robin.

"He's making this baseless crap up to get on our nerves, Tim. And it's sad to say this, but it's working. Unfortunately, Godfrey's entitled to his own opinion. My question is what's Batman going to do about it, especially since this is the first time that blowhard in a business suit called him out as well?"

"…_oh, and it looks like the results are in for the new supervillain that will be Logan's archnemesis. And the result is…oh dear. Ladies and Gentleman, if you have coulrophobia, you might want to stay indoors. The selected supervillain is Captain Clown, a man who possesses similarities to the Joker and Firefly. Armed with tricks inside of his clown suit, he has a tendency to burn everything in his destructive path. You people need to wake up! This insanity is why Logan Washburn doesn't need an archenemy! They'd only cause destruction everywhere they go! It's madness, I tell you!"_

Bluebird switched off the TV, still ticked that Godfrey was bashing Logan, even though he wasn't in the Justice League. "That guy is really ticking me off! He sees you helping other heroes and he automatically thinks you're in the Justice League!" she exclaimed, mainly to the Assassin.

"Take it easy, Harper. Nothing Godfrey says will affect me one way or the other. Still, I do agree with him on one thing," he said, getting looks of confusion from the two Bat Family members. "With this business with Lex Luthor going on, the last thing I need is an archenemy, especially a clown who likes to play with fire."

"So what are you going to do now?" Red Robin asked.

"I'm going to step outside for a bit. Care to join me, guys?"

* * *

When they got outside, the three vigilantes were looking around for any sign of Captain Clown. This was to make sure they caught him off guard so he doesn't hurt very many citizens. Logan knew that there were a few that could get hurt, so he wanted to minimize the casualties as much as possible. He may be an Assassin, but it's not like he enjoys it. Sadly, since he was drafted on account of his dad (much like Conner, Ezio, and Altair), he didn't have much of a choice. Still, he took the opportunities the Guild gave him to protect his friends and loved ones like any vigilante. It really disappointed him that Godfrey would try and turn the world against him and the League.

Red Robin saw something, so he zoomed in and activated the Detective Vision built into his domino mask. He saw a figure that looked like he was juggling something. He switched the Detective Vision off and saw a slim man wearing an evil clown mask juggling torches. He wore a captain's hat and a jumpsuit that had four different patterns. On his upper-left, he had a blue-and-orange striped pattern; his upper-right was red with white polka dots; his lower-right had a candy cane pattern; and his lower-left had polka dots that were white with a blue background. "Logan, I think I found your new clown," said Red Robin.

Logan and Bluebird looked and saw the same thing. "Huh," Logan said. "He looked much scarier on TV. Still, if he throws those torches, we're going to have one big barbecue. That is definitely something we don't need."

"I'm already on it." Red Robin threw a birdarang, which hit a fire hydrant that was near Captain Clown. The birdarang had a mini-bomb on it, which exploded and caused water to hit the pyromaniac, putting out his torches in the process. He looked and saw the trio jump down to surround him.

He took a look at them and laughed, which turned out to be more menacing than the Joker's. "You three don't look very impressive, not even you, Assassin!" he exclaimed. "Still, if you come to watch my fireworks show, you guys have earned yourselves some front-row seats!" The maniac jumped up and sent bombs flying towards all three of them. Red Robin threw a birdarang while Logan sent a Trick Knife at his bomb. Bluebird couldn't draw her gun fast enough, so she got sent back by the shockwave. As Captain Clown was about to plant his foot on her, Logan grabbed him with the chain blade and drug the clown towards him. This was followed up by Logan flipping and slamming Captain Clown to the ground. "Oh, now you're making me a very sad clown."

He reached into his sleeve and, against the laws of physics, pulled out a very large flaming hammer. By this point, Bluebird had already recovered and was prepared to dodge the hits. Logan gave her and Red Robin each a smoke pellet to throw on the ground. As Captain Clown was about to hit the area between them, they threw their smoke bombs down and disappeared. He was getting frustrated, but put on a smile—not that anyone could tell on account of the mask. "Come out, come out, wherever you are, children. Captain Clown just wants to play."

As soon as he got over a manhole cover, Logan saw his chance. "Shoryuken!" he shouted. The uppercut sent Captain Clown a little into the air along with the lid, giving the Assassin enough time to get out of the tunnel wearing his Titanium knuckles. Bluebird and Red Robin were on the rooftops with a string stretched in the landing zone. The clown saw this and pressed a button on his suit. "Oh great, it's the Trickster all over again!" Logan exclaimed, remembering his team-up with the Arrow Team from an alternate dimension.

Captain Clown did his maniacal laugh again. "I guess it's true what they say: Some folks are just filled with hot air!" Logan, Bluebird, and Red Robin were mad since the plan didn't work. However, they also knew to try and come up with a different plan. Time wasn't on their side since Captain Clown was by far deadlier than the Trickster.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar laugh, so they looked at the rooftops and saw a man with bleached skin, wild green hair, and red lips. He wore his iconic purple and green suit and a perpetual smile. Even a complete idiot would know that this was the Joker, the Bat Family's most frequent foe, especially Batman and Nightwing's. "Tell me, kids. How did you like my latest discovery?" he asked. "You know, I found him at a comedy club. A real laugh, that one is."

"Joker. No, we don't like him. It's a wonder he doesn't have tomato stains on his suit," Bluebird joked, getting a smirk from the psychotic clown.

"Well, now that you mention it, he wasn't the most popular comedian out there. I should know. I've been there before."

"Was this before or after your little bath?"

"Oh who remembers, bird boy? Hey, stop me if you've heard this song before: _Jingle Bells, Batman smells. Robin laid an egg,"_ Joker began before being attacked by an enraged Red Robin.

"He must really hate that song," said Bluebird.

"Considering he's the third Robin and Nightwing was the original, yeah. He hates it," Logan said. "You help him deal with Joker. I'll have to put in a special call to the Watchtower."

Bluebird nodded and joined Red Robin in chasing Joker down. She took out her smaller gun since it was better for these types of chases. She fired at Joker to throw him off balance, but he kept making her miss, ticking her off. Red Robin had the same results, which cost him a few birdarangs. Joker, in response, pulled out a bottle of acid and squirted it at the two of them. The Clown Prince of Crime was increasing the gap between him and the heroes, but they weren't about to give up so easily.

Red Robin touched the bird symbol on his chest and activated his jet pack while picking up Bluebird by the hand. The two of them caught up to the Joker and Bluebird fired a couple of shots to divert him. She was behind him while Red Robin was in front of him. "Oh come on. I had just escaped Harley's wrath and Batman's grip. I think I could use a day without dealing with his pet bird brains. And without the original Robin, things are a whole lot easier," he said.

"For once in your life, just shut up!" Red Robin exclaimed.

"Now why is it that the even-numbered Robins always have the worst luck? I killed the second one while the fourth one's clone killed him. Lucky for the former, he was resurrected by that al Ghul fellow." He saw that Bluebird was confused, but Red Robin was even more ticked now than he was before. He charged at the psychotic clown with his electrified Bo staff, but Joker got him with Joker Gas from the flower on his lapel. Bluebird fired a couple of shots at the villain, but only one hit him on the arm before he got away.

She went to check on Tim, who was about to have a laughing fit. She got on the comlink to call Logan in order to report the bad news. "Logan, I'm afraid we have a problem," she said.

"_What is it, Bluebird?"_

"Joker got away, but not without giving Red Robin his own version of the chuckles. He's out of commission."

"_Don't worry. I just called in Superboy and the Watchtower's going to bring in a special ex-member of the Suicide Squad, much to her reluctance. Take Red Robin back to the hideout and meet us in the alleyway near 30__th__ Street."_

* * *

After a while, Bluebird put Red Robin in bed and used an anesthetic to get him to stop laughing. She met Logan in the alley where he said and saw a black-haired teenager wearing a black shirt with an 'S' shield logo, blue jeans, and a pair of brown boots. They were also joined by a pale-skinned girl who wore a black-and-red look consisting of a corset, a pair of short shorts, and boots. She even had her hair red on the right side and black on the left. "Do you mind telling me what's going on? Why's the Joker's girlfriend here?" Bluebird asked.

"Ex-girlfriend," Logan corrected. "We had them put Harley Quinn's sentence on suspension until we get Joker and Captain Clown in the pin. J'onn and I took a risk regarding her psyche due to her wanting revenge on the Joker for years of abuse. As for Superboy, I think it's pretty obvious since Captain Clown's a pyromaniac."

"Pretend it's not."

"Kon-El's physiology—or at least, the Kryptonian side—is resistant to fire, similar to the jackets we're wearing. He'll be able to endure the fire that Captain Clown dishes out."

"But who's going to make sure Harley doesn't double-cross us or kill the Joker?"

"We'll have to work that one out," Superboy said before leaning in to Bluebird's ear. "I will tell you this, though: she tried to kiss Logan on the cheek. I think she was trying to flirt with him." Bluebird was shocked at the revelation. She didn't know why, but either she felt jealous of Harley or protective of the Assassin. Either way, she shot the ex-psychiatrist a glare.

"Since Captain Clown and the Joker are here, I know a good place to check out," said Harley.

"Where at?"

"Well Joker did enjoy the carnival. And if I recall right, the circus is in town."

* * *

They had a look around the circus, but they weren't exactly going at the fastest pace, mainly due to kids and fan-girls admiring Logan and Superboy. While they were cute, Conner was dating Miss Martian again while Logan had Cammy and Chun-Li. The ones who didn't know Conner were admiring his shirt while the ones that did were either taking a selfie with him and/or Logan or asking for their autographs. Bluebird's fear at the moment was also Harley's frustration. Luckily, Superboy rectified that by grabbing on to Logan and jumping out of the crowd and to the big top. "Now that's one way to get out of the dog pile," said Harley.

Bluebird hummed in agreement before going with her to catch up to the boys. As soon as the four of them were regrouped, they went inside the tent to take care of the clowns. They had a look around, but couldn't find them. Logan resorted to kicking in his Spirit Sense to find them. The end result was a shock. "Joker's above us! Move!" he announced. Everyone moved out of the way and saw Joker on a pogo stick with a knife where the base was supposed to be. "Oh great, now you've got a killer pogo stick."

"Now who says that we're too old to play kid's games?" said the clown before he went after the Assassin. Logan was about to prepare another 'Shoryuken', but the Joker got knocked off his pogo stick with an oversized mallet. He looked and saw his third worst nightmare behind Nightwing and Batman. "H-Harley? What are you doing here? Still can't get enough of your old Mister J? And to think, I got you some flowers." They saw that he had flowers in his hand, but Harley knew Joker all-too-well.

"I don't want any of your flowers, Joker! What I want is to see you suffer for making me into this!" This concerned the others, but Logan and Conner knew that Harley would live up to her end of the deal. "You will pay for all those years you've used me, left me to the cops, and for every cake and pie you shoved in my face! You may think that I don't have any friends, but I do. There are people who care about me. There's Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Logan, and even Bats. But you, you never cared! I should've never met you!"

At the mention of Logan and Batman's names, Joker grew frustrated. Harley tried to flatten him with the hammer, but this time, Joker backhanded her to the shock of the three heroes. "I can't believe that they tried to get me to face my old punching bag." He grabbed her by the hair and took a knife out. "Now, let's put a smile back on your face."

"Do your worst." Joker smiled, but before he could do anything, Bluebird shot his hand while Logan Flash Stepped and clotheslined him. Before the Clown Prince of Crime could touch him, the Assassin did a backflip, which was followed by Harley sending him to the strength tester. While he was recovering, she jumped and brought her hammer down on the machine, sending Joker up to ring the bell with his head. Once he was knocked out, Harley took deep breaths to calm herself down. "You should be happy I'm not going to kill you, you psychopath!"

Logan placed a hand on her shoulder in concern. "Are you okay, Harley?" he asked.

"He has caused me many years of abuse and it snapped months ago. So to answer your question…yeah, I'm much better," she answered before hugging him. He was shocked, but he eventually hugged her back in comfort. Suddenly, she felt him tense up. "What's wrong? Is your girlfriend here?"

"No. It's Captain Clown. This is where you come in, Superboy."

"You got it," said Conner.

"Aw, and I was hoping to surprise you!" said the pyromaniac. They looked and saw that he was standing on what looked like a junk pile. "Still, I've got a little present for all four of you! What happened to Red Robin? Did he fly the coop? Maybe Batman should've given him the name 'Chicken'!" Since Red Robin was like a brother to the three heroes (Logan through Nightwing), they charged at Captain Clown, only to be sent back by the flames that emerged from the junk pile, most notably from a large metal sphere. They looked and saw the scrap pile begin to take form.

What Captain Clown stood on now was a machine that was in the shape of a clown's body. It had a white torso and arms, red legs, and blue shoulders. The torso was where the flames were coming from. On the top was where Captain Clown stood. "That is one big bozo-bot," said Logan. Conner agreed with him on that while Harley and Bluebird were still shocked. The robot walked past them, nearly crushing them as he left them behind, Joker included. "Superboy, are you ready to dead-leg this thing?"

"You better believe it." The cops came to retrieve Joker as the three heroes and Harley went after the robot. "Harley, I'm going to need your hammer!" Superboy exclaimed. Harley didn't understand why, but complied anyways. After grabbing the hammer, Superboy did a long jump and smashed the hammer behind the robot's kneecap, sending its knee away and causing it to lose balance. Bluebird followed up by firing a missile from her big gun at the other leg, destroying the kneecap on that. Superboy gave Harley back the hammer, jumped up, and knocked the robot face-down.

Captain Clown got knocked off and was pretty ticked about it. He took out a portable Gatling Gun and fired burning 'BANG!' flags at the three of them, not even noticing Logan. The Assassin tried to do a takedown, but Captain Clown managed to get out of his grip. The villain tried to punch him, but he grabbed his fist and twisted his arm. This was followed by a knee to the stomach and a push down to the ground. Captain Clown was faking being out cold, however, as he grabbed Logan's ankle and tripped him up.

The new clown took out his giant burning hammer and was about to hit his foe until he felt something hit his foot. It turned out to be the heel on Logan's boot. The vigilante pushed up with one arm and kicked Captain Clown in the chin. Before he landed, Logan followed that up with a series of attacks in quick succession. Eventually, Captain Clown was beaten.

* * *

After Captain Clown and the Joker were arrested and Harley turned herself back in as part of the agreement, Logan, Bluebird, and Superboy went back to the hideout to check on Red Robin. They saw that he was fully awake and at the scrap pile of Luthor's robots. "How are you feeling, Tim?" Conner asked.

"Welcome back, guys. I'm feeling much better. What happened to Captain Clown and the Joker?"

"We caught them with a bit of help from Harley Quinn," Bluebird answered, getting a chuckle from Red Robin.

"Dick's favorite villainess," he said.

"What did you think about Captain Clown, Logan?" asked Conner.

"I know I originally said I didn't need an archenemy and I still hold on to that philosophy. However, if he breaks out of jail, then Captain Clown is a fun one to face. I need to let loose every once in a while."

"You're also going to have to take him seriously like we do the Joker," said Bluebird. "I know you don't underestimate your opponents. This should apply to Captain Clown as well." Even with the domino mask on, Logan saw the concern in her eyes.

"Okay, Harper. I'll be careful from now on," he said after a bit. "But now, we have to get back to the scrap pile and see what Tim found. Maybe it'll help us beat Luthor."

"After I calmed down from that laughing fit that the Joker put me in, I managed to find these among the robots," Red Robin said, getting Logan, Bluebird, and Superboy to join him. They saw five circuit boards with the same design and logo on them. "Instead of combining the circuits on different motherboards, Luthor managed to get these robots up and running with some of his own design. That's how they were able to stay running."

"Then all we need to do is send a virus to LexCorp's networks and disable the robots. Normally, I'd want to take it down from the inside out, but I don't want the Atom or the rest of the League to get in trouble, especially since Lex doesn't pay much mind to the Covert Ops Team or the Assassin's Guild."

"I'll go tell Superman and the rest of the League. That includes the Team," said Superboy.

"And we'll tell Batman. Logan, you need to keep below the radar as much as you can if you don't want Godfrey to slam you again."

"You got slammed by Godfrey?"

"He slammed me and Batman, Conner," said Logan. "He even accused me of being in the League itself instead of just assisting them."

"Sounds like I better let the League know about that too. Green Arrow, Flash, Hal, and John aren't going to like it, though."

"I'll live."

CHAPTER 10 END

* * *

**Okay, so now, I have brought in Logan's new archenemy Captain Clown, as well as the Joker and Harley Quinn for the villains and Superboy for the heroes. The next chapter is a Nathaniel chapter with two more heroes and another villain I have yet to bring in. Also, for anyone wanting Dick Grayson to return or have Logan or Cloak team up with Batman or Batgirl, I'll get to that later. Since this is like a New 52 version of **_**Batman: The Brave and The Bold**_** with the OCs being the main focus as opposed to Batman, Batgirl has a higher chance of teaming up with one of them than the Dark Knight does. The same goes with Superman and Wonder Woman.**


	11. How to Be a Hero

**How to Be a Hero**

In Coast City, Nathaniel was in his cave thinking his situation over. He knew that his reception wasn't exactly the warmest given that one of the first people he fought was Hal Jordan. It didn't help matters that he shook hands with Lex Luthor after he unveiled the cyborg project. It was only after he, Logan, and Cammy met Hawkman that he and Hal were starting to lighten up around him. He knew that earning the trust of both the Assassin and Bluebird was extremely hard, the latter being that the Bat Family, especially Batman, doesn't trust anyone so easily and the former was stubborn (at least in his point of view).

He mainly thought of certain traits of a Green Lantern and wondered if the rings he was having made had a power source of some sorts. He then remembered that when he met Hal, he had some sort of lantern with him. He also remembered that Alan Scott didn't have the same thing, which confirmed that Hal wasn't with The Green, but the Green Lantern Corp. He also remembered that he bought supplies from a different tech store and decided to see what he could do to make a Silver Lantern battery. The voice in his ring had told him the supplies and he managed to acquire them at a decent price. Suddenly, his ring started glowing and it made a construct on its own. It was a humanoid figure with no face on him. "I don't quite know what's going on, but I'd like to," he said.

"_Greetings, Nathaniel. Your curiosity feeds me. Now I am curious myself. What are you working on?"_ the construct asked, surprising Nate with the fact that it could talk.

"I'm trying to build a power battery for some special rings that Lex Luthor is working on. So far, I can't tell if I'm having any luck at the moment. It will be cool to see, though."

"_If you don't mind, why don't we try it out?"_ At the suggestion, Nathaniel switched on the lantern and aimed his ring towards it. The reaction wasn't quite what he had hoped. A shockwave sent him and the construct back to the wall. They looked and saw that the lantern was glowing in all colors of the Emotional Spectrum. _"Well, I'd say you haven't had any luck."_

"Good point. It's changing different colors. Red…Orange…Yellow…Green…Blue…Indigo…and Violet. This probably wouldn't go so well if it came in contact with a Lantern of those colors. I better put it in the vault." He opened a safe that Luthor gave him and put the defunct lantern in it. "By the way, do you have a name?" he asked the construct.

"_No I do not."_

"Hmm. How does the name 'Mr. Grey' sound to you?" The construct made a motion like he was thinking.

"_Well, I am a construct. The closest to a design I have is this humanoid form. I approve of the name,"_ said the newly-named Mr. Grey.

"I better get out of the cave and get some fresh air. It might help the brain a little. I also have to come up with a new costume design. I can't look like a copy of Jordan all the time."

* * *

In the city, Nate was walking around looking for something to do. He went into a store to get something to drink. A poster caught his attention showing a girl in a grey dress in the seat of a robot. The girl had black hair on her as well as red stockings. She had on a pair of skull earrings as well. "Well, she's pretty cute. I wonder if I'll ever get to meet her," he said to himself. Nate then saw that it was advertising a video game. "Oh, they're remaking _The Misadventures of Tron Bonne._ I never was able to play that game. I wonder how it did."

"The original didn't do so hot and the remake never actually happened. They're pulling a joke, man," said a voice. Nate turned around and saw a man who was dressed in a blue-and-gold bodysuit with gold shades to match. The gloves, boots, and torso were as gold as his hair was blonde. He had a blue star in the middle of his chest. The Silver Lantern could tell he was a hero of some sorts. "I should know. I'm from the future. I can't reveal too much or it'll damage the time stream. My name's Booster Gold, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Nathaniel."

It didn't take anyone of Gorilla Grodd's intelligence to figure out that Nate was baffled. "H-How did you know my name? I never even heard of anyone from my dimension named Booster Gold."

"That's because I'm from this dimension, but like I said, I'm from the future. I'll see you later, dude. Oh, and tell Cloak and Logan I said hi." After Booster Gold left, Nathaniel grew suspicious of this particular hero. He decided not to dwell on it. He grabbed a grape soda, paid for it, and then left the store.

* * *

When he was walking around the city some more, he came across some kids at an orphanage. Most of them were playing, but one kid was sitting on some stairs. He had black/dark brown hair and wore a red hoodie, blue jeans, and sneakers. Nate believed that no one even bothered to look his way…and he felt bad about it. He decided to approach the boy.

Billy Batson was not exactly the most social kid. Under the usual circumstances, he wound up at the orphanage. What was unusual was that he came across a supernatural force that gave him powers when he shouted a key word. From the eyes of the public, it would look like he wasn't invited. However, if one knew what went through Billy's mind—and heart—they would discover that he didn't play with them because he didn't want to endanger them. "Hey," he heard a voice say. "You look like you could use a friend."

He looked up and saw a guy wearing what looked like worn blue jeans with stripes on them, a sleeveless hoodie with a patched-up rip in the chest. From a distance, the patch looked like the Superman symbol, but it was actually the logo for Warner Bros. He had on a white T-shirt underneath the hoodie as well. "No I don't," Billy said.

"It looked like it to me. My name's Nathaniel. What's yours?" There was a long pause, which told Nathaniel the most anti-social answer he could get. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me. I can see now that you'd rather be left alone…"

"My name's Billy," the kid said. "And if you knew what I was capable of, then you would understand why I keep a distance from the other kids. For their sake, as well as the sake of other people, I'd rather not show you or tell you too much. My problems are my own. I'll solve them on my own."

"From what I learned, that's never the solution. Sure, it's hard for superheroes to maintain any sort of friendship, Billy, but you won't ever be happy if you don't try. I'm still trying to get along with people my age, but they don't like me too well. The closest thing to a friend is a superhero I just met today named Booster Gold. He's a bit of a nutjob, but at least he didn't give me the cold shoulder like most people do."

Billy was shocked since the topic of superheroes wasn't brought up. Nathaniel must've figured that his power made him something of a hero. "Well, thanks for the tip anyways, Nathaniel," he said. "I'll try to take in your advice." Nate smiled and nodded as Billy went inside. He decided to head back into the cave to try making a battery again. Neither one had any idea that there was a shadowy figure lurking in the trees.

* * *

When Nate got back to the cave, he turned on the radio to listen to some music. There were very few channels he could pick up, but he settled in on a Jazz station since he got the best reception from it. It took him a while, but he put together another battery. He didn't activate it this time because of what happened the last time. He was skeptical, especially since the last one went on the fritz, so to speak. _"I do not understand why you won't activate the battery,"_ said Mr. Grey, surprising Nate.

"Oh, right, you're a construct, so you'll appear out of nowhere. I can't activate it because I'm afraid I might get the same result: shockwave and shining different colors. I honestly don't know what to do here."

"_I see."_ Mr. Grey turned on the battery, but this time, it kept flashing red. The aura was also fluctuating, something Nate didn't see as a good sign.

"Oh crap." The next thing he and Mr. Grey knew, there was a mini explosion that sent them back a few feet. He got up and looked around to see that there wasn't much damage done. "Well, it's a good thing that I wasn't in my apartment back home. The landlady would have my neck." He saw Mr. Grey getting up and was a little peeved. "This is why I didn't want to switch it on yet."

"_Sorry. Curiosity got the better of me,"_ the construct groaned, making Nate shake his head.

"Well, I guess we better get the place cleaned up. As much as we can anyway…"

* * *

Back at the orphanage, everyone was asleep except for Billy. He couldn't help but mull on Nate's advice about friends. There were a total of 7 kids in the orphanage and he was the one loner. The woman who ran the orphanage tried to encourage him to play with the other kids, but he made his choice of being alone. At 15 years old, he felt that he couldn't associate himself with the others too often, but he looked to a black-haired girl who was like an older sister to him. Mary had always looked after him because she felt that no one should be alone. He smiled, very much appreciative of what she was trying to do.

Billy looked back outside at the moon and wondered if Nathaniel was right about heroes having friends. He also wondered if any one of them would find a good home besides the orphanage. Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the kitchen. The teenager went to check it out, hoping that they weren't being robbed. Since it was the middle of the night, Billy took his baseball bat and went downstairs. This didn't come without stirring a couple of teenagers awake, though. Mary got up and woke the nearest kid to her, a blonde-haired pre-teen. "Freddie, wake up. Billy must've heard something," she said.

Freddie stirred and got up. The two of them went to join Billy to check things out. When they caught up to him, he shushed them before they could make a sound. They saw a man dressed in dark green from head to toe. He even had a question mark on his sweater. "Eh, I don't see why the boss wants to come here so bad. This place has got nothing good around here," said the burglar. Billy was sneaking up on the crook when a purple gas came out of nowhere and the kids passed out. Suddenly an evil laugh was heard as the crooks took the three of them and set the orphanage on fire.

* * *

Back at the cave, Nathaniel noticed that the radio wasn't playing music anymore. _"We interrupt this program to bring you this breaking news!"_ said the announcer on the radio. _"There is currently a fire at the Coast City. Firefighters are doing their best, but it begs the question: Where is the Justice League?"_

"That doesn't sound good. Billy lives there," said Nate. "Hal might be a bit busy right now. I better go check it out and see if the kids are alright."

* * *

He got to the orphanage and saw that it was still on fire. The head of the orphanage was taking a head count and saw that three of the orphans were missing. She saw Nathaniel approaching them. "Miss, is everything alright?" he asked.

"No, it's not alright. Billy is missing, and so are Mary and Freddie. I-I think they might be in the building still," she said, panicking. Nate rushed in there, ignoring the warnings from the firefighters. He looked around for the three of them and found a baseball bat in the kitchen. He couldn't find anyone else in the building though, so he picked up the bat and came out. "Did you find them?"

"No sign of them, but I'm assuming this bat belongs to one of the kids." The caretaker and the kids had a look at it and immediately recognized it.

"Yes. It belongs to Billy." Nathaniel pondered some more until he looked up and saw Booster Gold coming. "Oh my, a superhero is just what we need," said the caretaker. "But who are you?"

"No worries, kids. Booster Gold, Man of the Future, is here to help save the day," said Booster. He even shone his signature smile, but the kids and the caretaker had confused looks on their faces. Nate, in the meantime, did a facepalm at Booster's antics.

"Well, Booster, now that you're here, maybe you can help me with a missing person's case. In this case, three kids have gone missing as the orphanage was set on fire," said Nate. "These three are Billy Batson, Mary Batson, and Freddy Freeman. I'm afraid that something must've happened to them."

"Well then I say we split up and look for clues," said Booster, getting a look from Nate that said 'Really?' As they were looking, Booster came across a peculiar note with a purple question mark. "Hey, Nate, you might want to have a look at this!"

"What is it?" He had a good look at the note, but it seemed like it was a puzzle of sorts. "'I bet you can't get all the facts Wright. You need to look on the more Constructive side of things'. Is there a villain that I need to know about with this kind of motif?"

"There is only one villain who operates in riddles. His name was originally Edward Nashton, who used to work for the Gotham City Police Department, but was discharged from it. His codename back when Batman was starting out was 'Enigma'. He then had his name changed from 'Nashton' to 'Nygma' while his codename became 'The Riddler'. He has an unhealthy obsession with proving himself to be better than Batman in the intelligence department."

Nate had a look at the clue and figured out that when it comes to Riddler's puzzles, the most obvious answer isn't always the right one. Some would take it as an insult, but the words 'Wright' and 'Constructive' were capitalized. "If you're really from the future, then you can lead me to Wright Construction Company, right?"

Booster smiled at the question. "All you had to do was ask," he said. Booster and Nate flew with Nate changing into his Silver Lantern costume, which now consisted of a silver jacket with his insignia on it, a black shirt and pants, and silver boots, along with a silver domino mask.

* * *

They got to the Wright Construction Company building, which looked like it was abandoned, and went inside. "About 5 years before now, this place was bought out and shut down by Masters Corporation. You're not familiar with him, but Ken Masters is the current heir to the company by this time. His father was the one who shut it down to reduce the amount of competition. It never sat so well with the people of Coast City, so Wayne Enterprise helps out in reconstruction and charity events," Booster said, telling the story behind the building.

"How do you know all this?" asked Nate.

"As a time travelling hero from the future, History has to be one of my strong points. It's pretty much logic."

Suddenly, a projector kicked in and shone on a wall. It was an image of a man dressed in green with purple question marks. He had a green formal suit with a purple shirt and tie, a green bowler hat with a purple question mark, a green domino mask, green pants, purple shoes and gloves. He carried a cane with a question mark on the end of it. _"Well, well, I didn't expect another reject here. Though I was looking for Silver, I'll happily take Gold as well,"_ said the man. Naturally, Nate and Booster were ticked at being called rejects, but they knew that this man was the Riddler, so they weren't surprised.

"Where are the kids, Nygma?" asked Nate.

"_Straight to the point, I see. I like that. Here's a little clue for you: What's red and white and is the only thing that lightning strikes twice? See if you hairless monkeys can figure out the answer." _After the projection vanished, Nate punched a locker door in frustration, leaving a dent in it.

"It's official! I really hate the Riddler!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth. The two of them went through a door and saw the trap that he set up for the kids. Booster finally came to the answer of the riddle, so he grabbed Nate by the shoulder. "What did you do that for? We have to save the kids."

"I know, but one of those kids is Shazam, a hero with the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of Mercury. Riddler's trying to do Spyral a favor and expose his identity. That would mean one less hero for them to conquer. Luckily, getting Shazam to reveal himself will be no easy task. It's said that even being susceptible to electricity can't get the kid to transform easily."

"'What's red and white and the only thing that lightning strikes twice?' So Shazam's the answer. Well, can you tell me which one it is?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that I don't know. Even if I did, I can't risk telling you for two reasons: No. 1: It could alter the timeline; and No. 2: Riddler could be listening at this moment." Suddenly, they heard his laughter in the loudspeaker. "What did I tell you?" Booster asked. "Let's see if we can get the kids out of there." Nate nodded, and then took off with him to get the kids down, but they were being shocked.

"_Oh, nice try,"_ said Riddler over the intercom. _"However, you can't fly or use the power in that ring or else the children will be in for a real shock. Whatever are you going to do? Your feeble, primitive brain better think of something, and not strain itself trying to help you. It is such a delicate part of the human body. Oh, and congratulations, Man of the Future, for getting the answer right. It seems you're the slightly smarter one of the duo."_

"Just let the kids go, Riddler! They don't have to suffer for your scheme! You've got the wrong kids! None of them are Shazam!" Nate pleaded. Sadly, Nygma refused to listen.

"_I'm afraid that you're wrong there, Silver Lantern! One of these teens is definitely Shazam! Now it's time to put our heads together and figure out which one! You can save them, but I bet even you're curious enough to figure out which one it is! Since I happen to be a good sport, how about I give you an opportunity to try and save them? Let's see how you can save Freddie here! He'll be the first leg of the puzzle!"_ Nate and Booster looked at the floors and discovered that a small pattern of them were on and off.

"Nate, if we can determine the pattern that these tiles are blinking, we can run from Point A to Point B and rescue Freddie. This should prove to the rest of the world that we rock! I just hope you have some gadgets to help with the rescue."

"Did you say 'run'?" Booster didn't answer, instead only looking at the floor for the non-electrified pattern. He found it and the two started running in a series of turns until they reached Freddie. Booster made it, but the electricity was catching up to Nathaniel. Luckily, he spotted a hook on a line, so he jumped, grabbed it, and swung to the beam. Afterwards, he gave the hook to Booster, who used it to rescue Freddie. "That was cutting it close, Booster. We could've gotten ourselves killed, you know."

"Don't Logan or Hal risk their lives all the time? I'm telling you, it's about the thrill. You don't get to be a famous superhero by not coming near death all the time, you know."

"You try telling that to Freddie here. Plus, Batman, Logan, and Hal would disagree with you on that one. I'm starting to think you're not a real hero, Booster. I may not have the makings of a hero, but I know that neither do you. You'd make a better detective instead."

"T-Thank y-you, B-Booster G-Gold," Freddie stuttered before passing out from the shock. Booster almost smirked at his silver-clad teammate, but he was more concerned about the kids. He picked Freddie up and flew him to the safe zone outside the door that they came in. It locked on him, leaving Nathaniel on his own.

As Booster was banging on the door, Nate was trying to find some way to rescue the next one without flying or using his ring since both actions were going to shock them if he tried. _"What's wrong? Has your primitive brain given up and accepted that I, the Riddler, am better than you? Since I locked Golden Boy out of the room now, I'll give you a chance to rescue your little buddy Billy Batson. If neither of us is shocked by the time Booster finds a way to get back in the room, then I'm sure Billy will be. Personally, I think this is way more fun without that human lighthouse getting in the way."_

Nate looked around until he saw a narrow beam leading to another room. Since it was a good distance away, he ran to the nearest cable, grabbed it and landed on the beam. This didn't come without having to grab onto it, though, and he nearly landed on the electrified floor. Doing his best to keep his balance, he walked into the next room and saw that the entire floor was electrified except the center, which was where Billy was standing. There were no shackles, but Billy wasn't about to let Riddler have the satisfaction of revealing the secret he kept for so long or shocking him again. Nate knew the kid was hiding something, but he was more focused on saving him and Mary as soon as possible.

The Silver Lantern ran and grabbed onto a cable, swinging from one to the next. The next one, he loosened from one end and swung near Billy. The teen reached up and grabbed Nate's hand as they got to the other side. _"You know, I've the most intellectual mind in all of Gotham City and even I can't figure out how someone like you, who's not in the greatest shape, is successfully using the steel cables to rescue the kids! It doesn't matter! I've got young Mary! I also know that Billy is more resistant to the electrical shocks he's received than Freddie was! Since Shazam is a male, I've already deduced that you've just rescued him!"_

"You're bluffing, Riddler! There's no way you could possibly know who Shazam is! All that time facing Batman and Bluebird and winding up in Arkham every time has fried your brain!" Nate shouted.

"Actually, Nate," Billy said, revealing that he already figured out his friend's identity. "I have a secret. Since I don't want Mary to suffer, I have to reveal it to you." The kid stood up and looked to the ceiling. "SHAZAM!" Lightning came out of nowhere and struck Billy, causing Nate to shield his eyes. When he opened them, he was shocked at the change. In Billy's place stood a hero in a red suit that had a flashing white lightning bolt. The cape and hood were white with gold on the borders.

"You mean you're really Shazam?" Shazam nodded. "That's great, but why didn't you tell your friends at the orphanage?" Nathaniel asked.

"Because I didn't want to put them in any danger," answered the hero. "As the Silver Lantern, you ought to know that very well. That's why I don't hang out with the other kids." Suddenly, it was clear to Nate what it meant to be a hero. "You look like you came across a realization."

"I learned something today, that's all."

"Well, so did I!" They looked and saw Booster jumping from one hanging beam to the next before joining them.

"Where did you come from?"

"I used the air vents. I sent a signal flare for the nearest hero to get Freddie back to the orphanage. It turned out to be this guy dressed in all black who shot spider webs that were the same color."

"Cloak," Nate said, smiling.

"Let's go get Mary," said Shazam.

* * *

Since they had to stay on the ground because of the shock machine Riddler had on Mary, they had to go on the ground. Shazam punched the door opened once they got there. "I always wanted to do that," he said. They had a look around, but saw no sign of Mary or the Riddler. "Now where did you take her, creep?"

"_Dear 'heroes',"_ said a video recording on a screen. It was the Riddler. _"If you're seeing this, you know I've got away with Mary. I'll leave you three one more riddle: 'The summer is for the 'Birds, but the winter goes to the creatures of the hills. You, on the other hand, have the Blues. Where am I?'"_

"'Birds' means 'Cardinals', 'Creatures of the Hills' refers to 'Rams', and 'Blues' refers to the hockey team," said Booster.

"What are you saying, Booster?" Nate asked.

"I think what he's trying to say is that the Riddler is taking Mary to St. Louis," said Shazam, getting a nod from Booster. "Then it's time to get serious…who's the most serious person you know personally, Nate?" Nate fell over at the question.

"Just when I thought you were actually going to be serious. The most serious person I know is also the only one who can rescue Mary and deal with Riddler. That is Logan Washburn. I'm actually way ahead of you on that one. I sent him a text message letting him know that Nygma's on his way. He should be preparing right now."

"Then the best we can do is wait," said Booster, who was as serious as can be for once.

TO BE CONTINUED

CHAPTER 11 END

* * *

**Alright, it's kind of hard to focus too much on Nate since I'm still trying to help my buddy develop his character. I think he's turning out pretty good for someone who originated as a grey version of Alan Scott or Hal Jordan. Since this is a darker version of **_**Batman: The Brave and The Bold**_** focusing on OCs as opposed to Batman, it was also hard to see how I can keep Shazam and Booster Gold's personalities in line with how they usually are.**


	12. Heads or Tails

**Heads or Tails**

In St. Louis, Logan was still dealing with distractions from the scrap pile. He, Red Robin, Bluebird, and Superboy had agreed to help Batman and the Justice League develop a virus that would render Lex Luthor's robots incapacitated. However, distractions like Mister Freeze and Killer Frost, Joker, and his new archenemy Captain Clown, were seriously starting to hinder him. This time around, he had two of Batman's rogues in his city instead of just one. One of these villains was the Riddler, who previously escaped Nathaniel, Shazam, and Booster Gold with Mary Batson held hostage. He was his prime target while Mary's rescue was his prime objective. The other villain was one that he had a 50/50 chance of counting on: Harvey Dent, A.K.A. Two-Face.

Right now, he left the scrap pile with Green Arrow, who happened to be in town. When Logan told GA about his plan to recruit Two-Face to take down the Riddler, the Emerald Archer was skeptical, but agreed with it anyways when Logan stated that he'd save Arrow as backup. The way Logan saw it, the less people with superpowers, the better. Two-Face had no superpowers and neither did the Riddler. Logan very rarely uses 'Chidori' when it comes to the League's enemies, but he does make frequent use of the 'Flash Step', so that counts. And the closest thing to a superpower that Green Arrow has is impeccable accuracy. This was good for causing less destruction unless Two-Face brought in rocket launchers and machine guns.

Right now, the Assassin was on his way to talk to Two-Face. He had managed to track the former DA-turned-mob boss to an abandoned ship at the Mississippi. If Logan had to be honest with himself, he was getting sick of going to the docks all the time. Last time, he, Dick Grayson, and Raven fought Deathstroke, which put the mercenary in a coma thanks to Dick using his escrima sticks. The time before that, he had to stop an illegal shipment of weapons from coming in. He used bomb knives for that little one. At least this time, the crooks were on the boat itself, with the exception of three standing guard at the pier. He threw a Trick Knife in the middle of the trio, which emitted a shockwave, sending two of them into the water. Afterwards, Logan Flash Stepped behind the crates that the third guard was sent to and pushed them onto him, knocking him out.

Next was the ship. Logan jumped and grabbed onto the portholes, reached up, and pulled a guard off the deck before swinging into the window. The next step he took was the graters, which would lead him to the room next to Dent's office. He assessed the situation and saw some snipers in the balconies. He knew he had to deal with them as soon as possible. An unlucky goon casually walked by him without knowing it. Logan got out of the grater, knocked him out, and stuffed him into the grater before moving on to deal with the other goons. Including the snipers, there were six more. That was two snipers and four with machine guns. He got to the rafters and took out a gadget. The goon on the right was hit with the gadget, knocking him out as well while he knocked out the other sniper himself.

Now it was the fun part: making sure to knock out the others without them knowing. Since he wasn't Batman, he couldn't do an inverted takedown, but he had the next best thing. The next guard to pass through wasn't paying attention, so he got his foot caught in the middle of a fine wire circle. Logan pulled him up, grabbed him by the neck, quickly tied the other end of the rope to the rafter he was sitting on, and moved while the guard passed out. He got to another rafter and watched as the other guards checked on their friend. He shot a chain blade at an air vent and went through it, kicking it in. After crawling to another vent, he saw one of the guards pass by with his gun ready. He burst out of the vent, knocked him out, and shoved him back into the vent before getting back in the rafters. The last two guards went to check on their buddy, which enabled the Assassin to sneak up on them using the 'Flash Step' and do a double knockout.

He smirked at the result and proceeded to Two-Face's office. When he opened the door, he saw no one in the seat. He knew that someone was there, though. His instincts kicked in a little late as Two-Face shoved him down while he was turning around. The mobster had an appearance that definitely lived up to his namesake. His left side was burned due to an accident with the eye enlarged, giving that side of his face an angered look. His suit was black on that side and white on the right, which was the 'Harvey Dent' side, complete with a decent tan and black hair. His right shoe was white while the left one was black. "Well, well, it looks like I got the next best thing to the Bat," he said, stepping on Logan's chest while pointing his gun at him.

As Logan was struggling, Two-Face started laughing at him. While the Assassin didn't mind the grotesque appearance, being that it was Dent's natural look now, he really hated the laughing. "I've got a proposition for you, Dent," he said, struggling to get Two-Face's foot off of him. The word 'proposition' got his attention.

"Oh, now this is truly something to laugh about. It beats the clown's lame jokes any day. So what do you have to offer me that you had to knock out my men and stuff them in air vents and graters? Certainly, it's not so important that you need a criminal to catch a criminal, is it? I'm not a DA anymore, in case you haven't noticed."

"It's the Riddler." This caught Harvey's attention. "A couple of nights ago, he kidnapped three kids in order to test my friend, the Silver Lantern. He and another hero named Booster Gold managed to rescue two of them, Freddie Freeman and Billy Batson. The third one is Mary Batson, a young woman who is like a sister to them. I know about your unpleasant history with the Riddler. That's why I took a chance and came to you," said Logan. "In fact, after Harley Quinn, you'll be the second criminal I've ever teamed up with. That is, if that Silver Dollar you stole from Sal Maroni has anything to say about it." Two-Face didn't know it, but Logan, for obvious reasons, decided to leave out the bit where Billy was revealed to be Shazam.

"Somebody's been doing their homework." Harvey took an odd coin out. "I know Batman didn't tell you about my motif and you haven't met Catwoman, which means that you learned about this from either Nightwing or Green Arrow. If I had to guess, it was the latter. This coin is designed specifically to represent me. I originally had a regular quarter to flip as both a hobby and as a prediction to how a court case would turn out. For good heads, a good fate would happen to them, but if it were to land with the bad heads, as shown with this side marked, then they suffer a horrifying punishment, usually death. So here goes. Good heads, you got me as a tag partner against the Riddler. Bad heads and you'll have to get off the ship before I kill you. And just so you know, this is an AK-47 that I happen to be very good at aiming with."

Two-Face flipped the coin in the air while Logan watched with anticipation. He knew that even if it landed with the good heads facing up, he'd have to be prepared to knock the ex-DA out since he'll try again after they deal with Riddler. Logan was relieved at the result once the coin landed. "Well, what do you know? It's sunny side up."

"That means that you have me for a teammate tonight. Remember that this is only to catch the Riddler. At any other time, I wouldn't let the coin do the talking since I really don't like you."

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual. It's just that there are certain criminals that I dislike more than you. This includes that clown you mentioned earlier, as well as Nygma."

* * *

The reluctant duo took off in Harvey's helicopter to Riddler's location in order to rescue Mary. They knew that Riddler wouldn't be so easy to find if he hadn't left any clues behind. His ego made sure that he did, however, which made things a little easier for the two of them. Once such example came to Logan upon seeing an abandoned building that mysteriously had a green question mark on it. "Land the helicopter here!" Two-Face ordered. At the orders, the pilot landed the helicopter on a neighboring building as Logan and the ex-DA got out. "There he goes again, putting green question marks on buildings. Doesn't he ever give up?"

"You're asking someone who's only done research on him. Look at the dot below the actual mark. It's an arrow pointing down." Harvey took the advice and got a good look at the question mark and, sure enough, he saw the dot in the shape of an arrow. "He's expecting one of us," Logan said.

"And that means that both of us are going in." He turned to his henchmen. "Stay here and guard the chopper. If the Justice League arrives, don't do anything stupid. Simply explain to them what side the coin showed." The goons nodded before Logan and Two-Face left for the building. When they got there, Logan tried to push the door open to discover that it was locked. "Out of the way!" exclaimed Harvey, who pulled out the AK-47 he mentioned earlier. As he fired, Logan looked for cover to duck behind. After a series of bullets, the ex-DA stopped and discovered that the glass was still intact. "Damn."

"I know you're one of Arkham's regulars, but are you that crazy?! That window's made of Plexiglas, which essentially means that bullets are simply going to ricochet off of it! You could've killed someone!"

"There's no one around here except you and me! Besides, if I get rid of you, that'll just be one less annoyance I have to deal with! From what I understand, it'll also mean that Batman's newest protégé is going to be more vulnerable if that happened!"

"Which gives me another reason not to die, especially to you!" exclaimed Logan. At the moment, he was contemplating that he should've brought Green Arrow with him. As the two hotheads glared at each other, they were interrupted by a speaker activating.

"_Well, what do you know? A vigilante and a crime boss teaming up against the most ingenious mind to ever come out of anywhere! Now this should be fun!"_ the Riddler said over the speaker.

"You better come out whatever rock you're hiding under, Nygma! Thanks to you kidnapping that brat, this Assassin's ruined my night!"

"We're at that rock, Dent!" Logan shouted to the crime boss, ticked that he called Mary a brat.

"_I can see which one of you is the smarter one now, can't I? Okay, Washburn, if you're so smart, then I'm sure you can solve this one without any help, unlike Two-Face there!"_ Harvey merely growled at the Riddler. _"Okay, here's the riddle: 'What goes down, but isn't coming back up whatsoever?' Remember, Harvey: this one's for Logan!"_

"The answer's us, isn't it, Nygma?"

"_You got it right, my friend! That means that you'll be heading down now!"_ A trap door opened from underneath Logan and Two-Face, causing them to fall down into a shaft below the building.

* * *

When they landed, they cleared their heads before observing their surroundings. In the basement was a deathtrap similar to what Nate and Booster had to go through. _"Bottom floor: dirty ground, mops and buckets, static electricity deathtraps! Enjoy at your own peril!"_

"I really hate that guy," said Harvey. Logan only ignored him and opened a door, revealing the aforementioned deathtraps. The Assassin took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. These were the same ones that Cammy got him as a gift. "I don't think now is a good time for trying to look stylish, kid. Besides, those are some ugly shades." Logan shot a quick glare at Two-Face before looking around. It turns out that the shades were high-tech, which meant that they had both night vision and infrared technology. "What, no snappy comebacks or death threats? We've been arguing all day. Plus, I did say your shades were ugly."

"I heard you, Dent! Right now, I'm too busy trying to find out a good way to get us out of here to punch your bad eye, whichever one it is." Even though, he knew he had a point, Harvey was still ticked off at the remark. However, he knew that the coin landed with the good heads up, so until they got to the Riddler, they were stuck with one another. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't tell him off.

"You know, you wouldn't be making fun of me if you know what I've been through!"

"Trust me, I know exactly what made you go from District Attorney Harvey Dent to the Crime Boss known as Two-Face! The McKillen sisters of Ireland were your last court case as one of the good guys. They were prosecuted due to assisting criminal activities in Gotham by way of extended family. One of them killed herself while the other one, Erin McKillen, escaped, tracked you down, murdered your wife, and threw acid on your face, which turned you into that!"

Harvey looked in amazement at the young Assassin. He didn't know whether to knock him flat or reconsider his second coin toss. "You've done more than your fair share of homework, boy. Tread carefully when you're around me."

"I'll remember that." Logan continued observing the room. "There's an unpleasant surprise. He's got turrets attached to the cameras. This pretty much means we're Swiss Cheese if we try to use my gadgets and your gun."

"Then you're about as useless as the Bat without his utility belt," Harvey scoffed.

"Let me ask you something, Dent. Is that suit of yours dry clean only?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Remind me to have you roll around in the mud while you're wearing it," responded the Assassin.

They had a look around until Two-Face saw a ladder. He pointed it out to Logan, who was a bit skeptical, but saw no other option. "Follow me." Harvey climbed the ladder to a ramp above the ground. A turret on the other side of the room found them and started firing, prompting the criminal to pull out the AK-47 and shoot at it. Unfortunately, they were at a stalemate that Logan was getting tired of. He jumped from the ramp to a platform, and then to another platform before jumping up and throwing knives at the cameras and destroying them. "Now why didn't you do that before?"

"I had to be at a closer range in order to destroy all of them. C'mon before Riddler spots us again."

* * *

The next room they were in had 5 doors in it. Two of the doors were on the left, two on the right, and one in the middle. Each one was marked with a green question mark on it, making it more difficult to find him. "Well, Einstein, which one is it?" asked Two-Face.

_Oh, is poor little Harvey getting tired of this? Perhaps the Assassin isn't crazy about these puzzles either! I have an idea: If you admit that I'm the better man, then you can leave…with as much dignity as you can muster up!"_ Riddler said over the loudspeaker, ticking them off even more. Logan put his pointer and middle fingers on his head while Harvey looked at him strange.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to concentrate here. If you would shut up, that would be great," he said. He cleared his mind and sensed that Riddler had deathtraps behind all the doors, having his Spiritual Signature in all of them. He focused on Mary instead. He found the door she entered and got out of his 'Spirit Vision' mode holding his head and stumbling. "I found her."

"So what now?" Logan looked at the door and knocked it down with his foot. They saw some stairs going up, so they ran up them. Once they got to the next room, Logan glared at the sight. "I got to admit, when it comes to deathtraps, he's consistent with electric floors and tiller blades. That's a deadly combination."

"_Why thank you, Two-Face! I see you still have a bit of a brain in there!"_ Riddler said. They looked and saw that he was in a window.

Logan grabbed Two-Face by the suit and tossed him onto the platform hovering over the electrified floors. He then jumped onto the wall behind him and Flash Stepped onto the same platform. "If I get a wrinkle on my suit, you're going to pay for it," said Two-Face.

"If I get blood on my sword, it'll be on you." They waited for the tiller blades to pass over them before Logan shot a grapple blade to the room across from them and grabbed Two-Face. Once they made it, Riddler started going on one of his tirades.

"_Hey, that's cheating! Okay, maybe not, but still! You can't just simply stay and let the blades turn you into mincemeat, can you? Okay then, here's one more for you! I'm behind one of these doors! Can you find me?"_

"He's managed to somehow leave his Spirit Signature in several different places. Our best bet's to get a lock on Mary." Once he did, he directed Two-Face to the door, showing that it was his turn to kick one down. He did and they were welcomed to the sight of Mary bound and gagged to a chair with the Riddler leaning on his cane. "Show's over, Riddler! There's a cell at Arkham with your name on it!"

"Not quite, my friend. Harvey, has Logan told you the reason why I kidnapped Mary here along with her friends?"

"No, he hasn't. Quite frankly, though, I don't give a damn. The sooner we take care of you, the sooner my partnership with him dissolves. First thing's first, though. We have to deal with you."

"Well if we're doing that, we might as well take this outside." Riddler pushed a button on the control console, making the room go upwards at an alarming rate. They looked out the window and saw that the room was going to the top of the building. When they got there, the Riddler pushed another button and sent Logan and Two-Face out of the room. The room turned into a huge platform surrounded by green energy beams protecting the Riddler and Mary. "Well, fellas, what do you think of my little arena here?"

"What do you mean by 'arena'?" Logan asked. They looked and saw several of muggers wearing green sweaters and purple ski masks ready to fight them. "Oh, that's what you mean."

"I'll worry about these idiots. You rescue the girl," said Harvey. For once, they were in agreement. Logan barreled through the muggers and got to the platform that the Riddler was on while Two-Face was fighting them. The ex-DA was keeping his own with several punches and kicks, knocking them out as well while Logan made his way. The Assassin knocked out a couple of muggers and used one of their faces as a launch pad, jumping up into the air and landing on the roof of the platform. Two-Face was finished with the muggers as he waited for Logan to drop the platform on the roof of the building.

The Riddler looked up at the ceiling and saw Logan drop down a hatch, which really ticked him off. "You're more annoying than Grayson ever was, do you know that?"

"I've heard it all before, Nygma," said the Assassin. As the Riddler attacked him, Logan grabbed him by the suit and threw him into the energy beams, electrifying him as well, before throwing him again into the control console. This made the energy beams deactivate as Logan threw him again, this time in from of Two-Face. After that, he freed Mary from the ropes and got a hug from her in return. "It's okay, Mary. You're save now."

"What about the Riddler? You did team up with Two-Face after all," she said.

They looked down and saw that Harvey had his Silver Dollar out. "Okay, Eddie, you know the drill. Heads, you live. Tails, you die. Let's see what it'll land on," said the mobster. Two-Face flipped the coin, but it landed with the good heads facing up. "This has not been my day so far. You get to live, but you're going to jail."

"Dent, you realize that he's knocked out, right?" Logan asked.

"I know that." Mary clung on to Logan in fear of what might happen next. "The girl knows what's coming your way, kid. Remember the result of the first flip? It's the same condition for the Bad Heads, which would mean that you die. I'll leave you alone if it lands on the Good Heads." Two-Face flipped the coin again as Logan attempted to shield Mary from the upcoming shot. A shot was heard, but not from the AK-47. They looked after the coin hit the ground and saw a green Boxing Glove Arrow beside an unconscious Two-Face. They looked a little more to the left and saw Green Arrow on the Arrow Plane.

"Green Arrow!"

"I figured you could use my help," said the Emerald Archer. "Now how about we get Mary back to Coast City?"

"Thank you, Green Arrow. Thank you, Mr. Washburn. You both saved me," said Mary. The two vigilantes smiled at the girl.

* * *

Back at Coast City, Logan and Green Arrow met up with Nate, Billy, and Booster Gold at the orphanage, where they dropped off Mary. She gave them a goodbye hug as Billy shook Nate's hand, leaving Booster crying in the corner. "Thanks for getting her back, Logan," Nate said.

"No problem. Wouldn't have done it without Two-Face and Green Arrow, though."

"But how did you manage to get Two-Face to work with you? He hates vigilantes," said Booster.

"I used his coin toss motif against him. Green Arrow came afterward. Oh, that reminds me. We still have to find out how to stop Luthor from unleashing his robots."

"Don't you have Bluebird and Red Robin making a virus for that?" asked GA.

"Yes, but I've got this funny feeling that a virus isn't going to be enough. We're still going to need some help."

"Well I know someone who might be able to help." They looked at the Emerald Archer for the suggestion. "Tell me, do you know a scientist named Ray Palmer?"

* * *

At LexCorp, Lex Luthor was watching the surveillance cameras around St. Louis and Coast City. He now knew that Logan and his friends were smart enough to outwit even the Riddler. He never expected him to team up with Two-Face at all and wondered how much of a threat he really was when he teamed up with Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, or even his own archnemesis: Superman. "Mercy," he said. "How's the status on Deathstroke?"

"Statistics show that he had just woken from the coma that Dick Grayson had put him in. He's getting his strength back as we speak…and he's carrying a grudge against Grayson now," said the beautiful secretary.

"Well he'll have to hold off on dealing with Grayson. His main targets are Logan Washburn and Green Arrow. We can't endanger our friend Nathaniel just yet."

CHAPTER 12 END

* * *

**Man that took a while. I started another Logan story called 'Rekindle to Trouble', which features Soifon looking to rekindle her old relationship with him at a Captain America exhibit. It's a crossover between **_**Bleach**_** and **_**Marvel vs. Capcom**_**. Check it out when you've got the time.**

**So Logan has managed to put up with Two-Face and rescue Mary Batson from the clutches of the Riddler with Two-Face getting knocked out by Green Arrow. Now Luthor's planning on sending Deathstroke, who carries a grudge against Dick Grayson for putting him in a coma, after Logan and Green Arrow. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	13. Sharel

**Sharel**

Nate was working on yet another power battery. This would be his third attempt after the first two failures, but so far, he couldn't pinpoint the right calculations. Being in a cave with just a little technology and a humanoid construct didn't help much. Mr. Grey only grew more curious, which was okay since the ring was powered by Curiosity. However, as he learned from others, there are limits as to how much curiosity one can take. As he was looking over the blueprints, he was getting a bit of a headache. This was so much that he knocked his screwdriver off the table. _"You dropped your screwdriver. I shall fetch it,"_ said Mr. Grey.

"No. I'll do it," Nate responded. He went further into the cave. When he was about to pick up the screwdriver, he saw a glowing yellow pod. He had no idea when or how it got there since chances are, there would've been a hole in the ceiling and he would've known about it. He crept towards the pod and put his hand near it. Suddenly, the door opened and out came a young woman with long blond hair. She wore a pair of green shorts and a brown shirt. What really caught Nate's attention was the symbol on the shirt: a yellow triangle with an eye in it. She looked and saw that she was in a cave. She saw Nathaniel and tried speaking to him, but the Silver Lantern couldn't understand a word she was saying. "Look, I don't know if that was a threat or not, but I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me," he said, further confusing the girl.

She reached out to an alarmed Nate and… "BOOP!" she exclaimed, stupefying Nate. She tapped him lightly on the nose. "There. Now we can understand each other. What I said was 'Hi. My name is Sharel. I come in peace'."

"I'm going to need help."

* * *

The duo got to Coast City to wait for the help that Nate called in. The two of them were waiting (at least Nate was) on Logan to get there. He wondered what was taking them so long when he heard what sounded like gulping. He looked behind him and saw Sharel drinking from the water tower on top of the building. That wasn't the strange part, though; she was drinking from the side of the tower and not getting any splinters. She seemed to perplex him more by the minute. "You know that the city needs that in case this building is set on fire, right?" he asked.

"Sorry. I was thirsty," she said after wiping her mouth off. Nate pointed out that her clothes got wet in the process. "Oh whoops. Let me fix that." Nate covered his eyes when he thought that she was going to take her shirt off, but she just snapped her fingers and it was instantly dry. "Ah, that's much better. You didn't need to cover your eyes, Nathaniel. I can just dry off my clothes with a snap of my fingers." Nate slowly uncovered his eyes and saw that she indeed had the same shirt on, but it was dry. "See?"

"I can see that." Suddenly, a black vortex appeared out from the roof of the building and a bird made of dark energy came out of it. The bird dissolved and was replaced by Logan, Raven, and Starfire. "Oh, thank goodness you made it. What took you so long anyways?"

"Sorry for the wait. By the time I told Starfire here what was going on, Raven hadn't finished her meditation. You know how she gets if she doesn't meditate," Logan explained. He saw Sharel. "Is this what you called me about?"

"Hi. My name is Sharel. It's nice to meet you," Sharel said, introducing herself in a bubbly manner.

"Greetings. I am Koriand'r from Tamaran," said Starfire. "My name translates to 'Starfire', so that's what everyone calls me here. This is Rachael Roth and Logan Washburn, both of them native Earthlings."

"Uh…hi," said Logan.

"'Sup?" Raven asked.

"Nate, I also called Cammy over. I don't know what's taking her so long, though," Logan whispered to Nate. Raven and Sharel heard that as well.

"It's okay. Just let me read your mind and she'll be here in a jiffy," said the blonde, who confused the Assassin. "Reading minds and focusing on bonds are just two of my many abilities. I'm from a dimension beyond the 5th Dimension that Bat-Mite is from."

"Who in the world is Bat-Mite?" Nate asked.

"He is a caricature of Batman from the 5th Dimension. Unlike Mr. Mxyzptlk, he means well, but often does more harm than good. Bat-Mite also knows when to leave Batman alone when he's ticked him off," explained Logan. He was still scared of Sharel's power and for good reason: if she is able to bring someone here due to their bonds with their friends, then that meant that she could easily compromise a certain former Robin's mission by having him and Nate interact. Sharel put her right hand on Logan's forehead and her left hand on her own, concentrating on Cammy. Due to his strong bond with her, it didn't take the strange girl long to find the Delta Red soldier. She gathered up energy and snapped her fingers.

Cammy appeared, along with her car, on the roof, causing Nate and Starfire to faint in shock. "Okay, in my studies on the supernatural, I've seen some weird stuff. This takes the cake," Logan said. Cammy looked around after getting out of her car. She saw Sharel giving Logan a couple pieces of white cake. He took one to her, which she accepted gladly. "You must feel like you're in an episode of _Bewitched_, right?"

"You got that right, hun. One minute, I'm stuck in traffic and the next, I'm on the roof with my car," Cammy said. "I know Raven over there didn't have anything to do with that because I would've known when I was being pulled through a portal." Logan guided her to a makeshift seat and gently sat her down.

"Are you good now?" Cammy nodded. "Okay, now I'm going to explain this as best as I possibly can so we both can comprehend it. This here is Sharel, a girl from a zone beyond the 5th Dimension where Bat-Mite is from. She has…unorthodox powers that bend reality. She can also read minds. She used her reality-altering powers to get you here. I know it sounds crazy, but believe me when I say, I saw it with my own eyes. Sharel is a friend of Nate's, who hasn't told me why in the world she's wearing a t-shirt with the telltale Illuminati insignia on it."

It turns out that Nate wasn't totally unconscious, as he heard the explanation. "Illuminati?" he asked before taking a good look at Sharel's shirt. "Oh. I hadn't noticed that before. What the heck is the Illuminati?" Logan, Cammy, and Raven fell over after hearing that.

"You're joking, right? You mean to tell me that on your Earth, they don't have Illuminati?" Nate shook his head in the negative. "The Illuminati are a cultist organization that held a form of influence since before the U.S. was made into its own nation. Get the picture?"

"Sounds like it's as bad as Brother Blood's cult. When are you going to blow that one up?"

"I have to find the headquarters before I blow it up, Nate. In the meantime, let's focus on the present situation," Logan said, indicating towards Sharel. "Let's head back to the cave. I'll carry Starfire." He picked the alien girl up and put her in Cammy's back seat, confusing the Delta Red soldier. "Rae, can you get this car down?"

"You got it," Raven said. She concentrated her energy around the car, enveloping it and making the energy take its natural bird form. Raven then flew them to the cave.

* * *

They got to Nate's hideout and hid Cammy's car behind the mountains in case Hal was on one of his test flights. Logan had set Starfire down on a cot that the Silver Lantern had spread out for any guests. Logan, Cammy, and Raven had a look around, noticing their host's headquarters. The Assassin also noticed Nate's project. "Been taking a cue from the Green Lanterns, have you?" he asked.

"I guess you can say that. So far, I have had no successes. Explosions, yes, but no successions," explained Nathaniel.

"Well there's obviously something you're not doing right," said a childish voice. They looked and saw a small version of Batman wearing a grey outfit with a blue cape, a black bat symbol, and a blue cowl. Even the gloves and shoes were blue. The belt, however, was yellow. "You can't be reckless when you're making one of these, buddy. It takes careful time and precision."

"Hey, you're that Bat-Mite that helped me get here," said Sharel. "Thanks a lot."

"That was nothing. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the proper tools to help you out here, Nate."

"Okay, but how did you get here and where's Batman?" Nate's question got Bat-Mite to teleport.

"I would think it's pretty obvious how I got here. I'm from the 5th Dimension, which means that I can come up out of nowhere. I know I often get on Batman's nerves, so I run while I can. As for Batman…" Bat-Mite said while he was teleporting. He stopped on Raven's head while pointing at a shadowy corner in the cave. A familiar figure in dark grey armor stepped out. He had a black bat symbol on his suit, a black cape and cowl that kept up the bat theme, black boots, black gloves, and a black utility belt. "…he's right there."

Normally, Logan would've been excited to meet Batman and Nate would be scared (given that he faced his world's Batman), but they were able to reel it in due to the situation. "Bat-Mite told me about the blonde. She must be new," Batman said.

"She is," Nate said. "Her abilities freaked out Cammy here and caused me and Starfire to pass out for a bit. As you can see, Star's still out cold."

"Clearly." Sharel demonstrated some more of her unusual traits after she yawned for a bit. She made like she was going to go to sleep and started using her hair like a pillow. "That's unusual. Even Bat-Mite hasn't done that." As Nate went to get some blankets for Sharel and Starfire, Logan and Raven went to talk to Batman away from Cammy's ears. "Did you find anything else on Luthor's cyborgs?" the Dark Knight asked them.

"I couldn't because I got distracted by Nate's emergencies. Last time he called me for help was to rescue Mary Batson from the Riddler. You're not going to believe the headache I got from working with Two-Face. Luckily, Green Arrow knocked Dent out with the Boxing Glove Arrow. He told me I might get some help from Professor Ray Palmer. At any rate, since we can keep up with Red Robin and Bluebird, what's Dick's progress?"

"I'm glad you're staying serious on this one. Dick's secretly feeding information to Bluebird on how to stop the cyborgs without Red Robin knowing. I filled Robin in on the situation without mentioning Dick's mission or his Nightwing identity being compromised. He's smart, though, so he'll figure it out eventually."

"I thought you didn't have a Robin anymore," said Raven. "Unless…you took someone in besides Bluebird."

"Not exactly," said Batman. "This one is my son, Damian Wayne. I was able to bring him back thanks to a supernatural artifact. Now he acts as Robin again. Raven, since you hold a soft spot for Dick, I expect you to be an older sister figure to Damian and Bluebird."

"I already am for Red Robin. Not so much for the Red Hood, especially from what Starfire told me."

"By the way, Logan, I understand you beat Jason in a fight."

"The secret is really ticking him off. It's no surprise with a temper like his," Logan said with a smirk, getting one from Batman in return. Suddenly, Logan's Spirit Sense went off. "We've got company." As Nate put the blankets on Sharel and Starfire, Logan pointed out to the others someone in the cave that wasn't familiar. A red light shone from his ring, showing him with a mop-style haircut, his hair being orange. The man wore a red vest with the left side of his lapel facing to the outside. He had black pants and sleeves with white gloves and boots as well. In addition to that, the vest had the insignia of the Red Lanterns on it.

"Ah, now this is more like it. I've got Hal and John off my back and it's already furnished in here. Just the way I like it," said the figure. He shone his light on Cammy, Sharel, and Starfire and let out an animalistic growl. He quickly put up a shield as a batarang and a Trick Knife made their way towards him. They exploded when they made contact. He looked and saw Logan and Batman with more of their respective weapons drawn. "Oh great, I had just ditched Hal and John and now I've got to deal with you, Bats?"

"If you were smart, Gardner, you wouldn't have had to ditch them."

"Wait, this punk is Guy Gardner? I thought he was a Green Lantern, not a Red Lantern," said Logan.

"Change of plans. And a change of colors," said Guy. "By the way, while we're talking about changes, how about those two cute blondes there come with me? I'll show them a real good time with a real Guy." This only served to tick Logan off, so he 'Flash Stepped' over the Red Lantern, grabbed him by the shoulders, and 'Flash Stepped' out of the cave. The others that were awake, except for Bat-Mite, stayed behind.

* * *

They got outside just as Logan was doing a meteor slam to send Guy into a mountainside wall. Suddenly, Guy began to glow a bright red. He sent the 24-year-old back with a shockwave and continued to blast him with an energy beam. "You shouldn't have done that, pal! I don't think you have any other powers but to be a copycat of the Flash!" Guy got blindsided by a hit from the side, so he looked and saw Nate with his ring active.

"You obviously didn't get the memo from Hal Jordan!" the Silver Lantern exclaimed, referring to Logan's 'Chidori' manipulation. He grabbed Guy and tossed him away, making sure that the others were safe at the risk of getting in a pilot's way. He followed him, but Gardner grabbed him and slammed him down. Nate recovered quickly and flew back up, making a sword construct on his way. He swung at Guy trying to hit him, but the Red Lantern kept dodging. "Not bad."

"I'm a whole lot better than you, slowpoke! I was a Green Lantern after all!"

"Gardner needs to keep in mind one thing," Batman said. "Sinestro was a Green Lantern long before Hal joined the Corp. and the latter beat the former. Nathaniel should be able to handle himself if he can use Gardner's temper to his advantage." As Batman explained that to Cammy and Raven, Guy formed his own sword and slashed at Nate, who blocked it. Gardner sucker punched his new foe and hit him with the sword, knocking him down to the ground. Again, Nate recovered quickly and avoided a blast from Guy.

The commotion woke up Starfire and Sharel, so they went outside with Bat-Mite to see what was going on. Sharel saw the fight and got excited. "Oh boy! I had no idea that Nathaniel was into theatre! Maybe we can go see a play!" she exclaimed. Starfire tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down once she got her attention. The blonde gasped at Logan's condition. "What happened to him?!"

"The Red Lantern happened," Cammy explained angrily. "He knocked Logan out cold and was about to kill him when Nathaniel intervened."

The fight continued with neither side letting up. Guy was getting sick and tired of this, so he went from a sword to a chainsaw. He cut through Nate's sword construct and hit his shoulder, causing him to shed some blood. The Silver Lantern got serious with that and blasted Gardner back several feet. This really ticked Gardner off, so he flew back towards Nate and slashed at him again with the chainsaw construct. He responded with a tennis racket to slam him back. "How old is that trick?" Guy asked rhetorically. The Red Lantern fired another blast, but Nate put a shield up to block it.

The impact never came, so he looked and saw a portal absorbing the blast. He looked again and saw Sharel wide awake and angry. "What are you doing out of the cave?" Nate asked.

"I'm mad because of what he tried to do to our friend! Let me help out, Nathaniel!" After looking in her eyes and seeing the determination in them, he nodded, interested in seeing her powers in battle. Guy, in his anger, fired off many energy blasts from his ring, but Sharel kept absorbing them with her portals. She then opened up one big one, causing one of the oddest sights anyone has ever seen. A bunch of rabbits hopped out of the portal and tackled the Red Lantern. Eventually, the weight became too much for him to bear and he was weighed down.

Knowing that Sharel made these rabbits a little odd in some way, Nate put a dome over them, trapping Gardner as well. Sure enough, the rabbits started glowing red, showing that they were the result of Sharel absorbing Guy's blasts. This was her way of redirecting them to her opponent. An explosion happened, but the dome limited the range by quite a lot. Nate removed the dome one the explosion was over and saw Guy unconscious. The Silver Lantern was about to pass out, but Sharel caught him and brought him down safely. "At least we won, Nathaniel," she said.

Batman walked over to Guy and put a pair of restrictor cuffs on him to keep him from using his ring. He then threw the ex-Green Lantern over his shoulder and threw Sharel and Nate a smirk. "Nice work, you two," he said. He looked and saw John Stewart flying by. The Green Lantern picked Guy up and took him to Oa, leaving Batman to the others.

* * *

By the time they got back in the cave, Logan and Nate had awoken, to the relief of Cammy and Sharel. They saw Bat-Mite working on the Battery, hoping he got it right. The little imp looked in it and saw nothing wrong now, so he had Nate try it out. With an encouraging nod from the others, he extended his arm out. "Okay. Here goes nothing," he said. "In Dreary Day, in Greyest Night, Everything is interesting in my sight. Knowledge will aid me in my fight, with my power, Curiosity's Light!"

Suddenly, the Power Battery shone a bright grey light, empowering Nate's ring in the process. "Congrats, Nate," Logan said. "You now have a working Power Battery."

"Thanks, guys. Now I just need to find some recruits."

"Try to look for some with little to no experience. They'll be able to adjust to the ring quicker," Batman suggested. They looked around and saw Sharel looking at one of the rings. She was curious as to how it worked. "I think you have your first recruit."

"Good luck, man. Maybe you'll learn how to be responsible from here on out," Logan joked, getting a laugh from Cammy as the two of them left.

* * *

Batman followed them out as they were leaving, seeing more than a sign of trust between them. He figured correctly that Logan and Cammy were together, so he stopped the two of them. "What is it, Batman?" Cammy asked. Luckily, they were out of range from the others. Starfire and Raven had already made their way back to the Watchtower.

"Logan has a secret to tell you that Bluebird and Arsenal know, but Red Robin and Red Hood don't." Logan knew exactly what the Dark Knight was talking about.

"I'll tell her on the nice scenic route back to St. Louis." Batman nodded in approval. Once he and Bat-Mite left, the two of them got in Cammy's car and drove back to Logan's city. Before Cammy asked her question, Logan answered ahead of time. "The secret Batman's talking about is the status on Dick Grayson. He's feeding Bluebird the information required for the virus program she and Red Robin are making to disable Luthor's cyborgs. In the meantime, we need to work on researching them some more."

"Dick Grayson was Nightwing, wasn't he?" Cammy asked. Logan confirmed with a nod. "And you knew, but didn't want to compromise his mission?" Another nod from Logan gave her an answer. "I understand. That's why you didn't tell me when we met Roy, Jason, and Starfire."

"Dick was the reason Deathstroke was conked into a coma. Two or three days after we discovered Luthor's plot, he sent Deathstroke after him. Because of that, Chun-Li figured out that he was still alive. Raven already knew, but isn't telling Cyborg, Starfire, or Beast Boy. Roy has yet to tell Green Arrow and Black Canary. I'm hoping that he waits until the right time."

"Oh well. Let's just enjoy the drive and maybe get something to eat. I'm hungry. Maybe later, you can tell me who else knows about Grayson's status," Cammy suggested.

"That's a good idea. I don't know about you, but I could certainly use a trip to the Nifty Fifties diner," said Logan. Cammy smiled at the suggestion, seeing as they haven't had much time to spend together lately.

They had no idea that a certain mercenary was watching them.

* * *

Back at Nate's cave, he and Sharel made a gate so no one would get through. They made sure it was titanium so not even Superman could get through. "Okay, so now that that's done, how about we try figuring out more about these rings," said Nate. He saw that Sharel was asleep, lying on her hair like the last time. "…or we can do it later."

CHAPTER 13 END

* * *

**Okay, so that was something, especially the exploding rabbit thing. I never thought I'd work with someone with similar powers to Bat-Mite, but Sharel's the property of the Silver Lantern's owner. Since I have to work with flameblade89's OC Todd Platinum/Cloak some more, I decided to have him fight one of the two mascots from NetherRealm Studios' most famous video game series. Since I have elements from **_**Injustice: Gods Among Us**_** in this fic, I'm sure you can figure out who it is. I'll also use a **_**Bleach**_** character since I need to use more of them, as well as more **_**Street Fighter**_** characters as well.**


	14. Facing One's Demons!

**Facing One's Demons**

In another realm, a coliseum was packed. There were fights against the monsters of that world, two women chained up (one in yellow and black, the other in red) and a throne was in the middle of it. The individual sitting on the throne was a green-skinned man who looked like an Aztec Eagle Warrior, including the feathered headdress. To his right was a bald woman wearing a hood. She had insect-like features on her, such as four extra legs that come from her back as well as a set of hornet wings. The man on his left was a human dressed like a cowboy, wearing a gun belt, cowboy hat, and a mask.

The three of them were watching a match between two rival ninjas. One of these ninjas was dressed in yellow and black with a giant scorpion on his chest, swords that had hilts resembling the said arachnid's stingers, a black hood, and a black-and-yellow mask. His rival wore blue-and-black clothes with the mask emitting cold air as he breathed. He had a scar on his right eye as well. The warrior in blue was looking weary as he and the one in yellow had fought for a good while. He blocked the oncoming punch from his foe, but tripped up and fell down. "I will admit, Sub-Zero, you have proven to be a better match than your brother," said the yellow ninja.

"So be done with it," Sub-Zero said in disdain. The one in yellow was about to deliver the finishing blow, but was teleported by an unknown aura. Once he disappeared, Sub-Zero looked around for any sign of him. "Hanzo?" With that, he fainted.

"This one would like to search for Scorpion and bring him back here," the bug lady said.

"Very well, D'Vorah. Begin your search," the Aztec-like being ordered before turning to the cowboy. "Erron Black, take the Lin Kuei to the prison chambers. He will rest there." The cowboy, identified as Erron Black, acknowledged him with a bow while D'Vorah began her search for Scorpion.

* * *

Scorpion wound up in a forest in the World of the Living, or to be more precise, Japan. He saw that there were many woodland creatures, much like the forest around his old home. He felt a nostalgic feeling as he looked around. "It's so…peaceful here. I never thought I'd experience this again since…" he began saying before he remembered a painful experience. The echoes he felt in his mind were weighing in on him. He still regretted a missed opportunity to bring back his family and clan, whom he believed were slain by Sub-Zero's older brother. That's when he remembered his match against him. "I wonder if Kuai Liang made it here…"

Hanzo continued to have a look around, searching for Sub-Zero in the process. He looked and saw a figure in black looking like he was investigating. "Man, Pitch, this supernatural tracking device that Urahara gave us is certainly handy, but I'm afraid it might need a little more tweaking. It's acting like it's on the fritz," said the figure. It turned out to be Cloak, but Scorpion's anger took over his sense of reason, causing him to attack him.

"You!" he shouted. "You're going to pay for what you did to me, Bi-Han!"

"Now look, buddy, I have no idea who this 'Bi-Han' character is. You have the wrong guy."

"Lies won't save you! They didn't stop me from killing you before, nor will they stop me from doing so now!" Scorpion started the fight with a teleport punch, hitting Cloak in the back. The Exonian responded with creating a pair of Symbiote swords. He stabbed the yellow-clad ninja with the one in his left and slashed his chest with the other one. Cloak then followed it up with a kick before retracting his swords back into the Symbiote suit. This only served to make Scorpion more furious, though. He attacked with both of his swords.

Cloak blocked each of the sword slashes by thickening the density on his Symbiote suit. Eventually, he grabbed one of Hanzo's swords, parried the attack, and shoulder-rammed him. He stuck Scorpion with some webbing to a tree. "Not bad, Bi-Han. Did Quan Chi give you an upgrade on your attacks?"

"For the last time, I'm not Bi-Han!" Scorpion didn't believe him still, so he summoned Hellfire to burn the webbing off of himself. He then used it to burn the ground under Cloak's feet. Scorpion then unleashed a chained spear and pierced him on the shoulder.

"Get over here!" Hanzo shouted. He pulled Todd towards him and punched him away. Now Cloak was mad. Scorpion tried to do another 'Teleport Punch' on him, but the Symbiote fighter used his instinct to block the ninja, grab him in a headlock, and repeatedly punch him. He then threw Scorpion in the air and whistled. Pitch, in his motorcycle form, caught the yellow-garbed warrior and sped towards a tree. He stopped in an instance, which caused Scorpion to be flung off into the said tree. "You should not have done that."

Scorpion teleported again, making Cloak think he was going to try punching him again. This time, though, the ninja tripped the Exonian up and proceeded to use all kinds of Hellfire. He summoned a portal behind each of them and fired his spear through the one behind him. The spear came out from the other side and impaled Cloak in the back. He pulled the spear back and brought his opponent with him before tossing Cloak to the other side of the arena. He was about to pull his mask off until he saw the Symbiote retreat within Cloak's bloodstream, revealing Todd Platinum. "No. You're not Bi-Han. This means that you're not worth killing," Scorpion said before walking off. In the meantime, Pitch nuzzled under his owner in his Shadow Fox form before turning into his Panther state and heading to Karakura Town.

* * *

Todd awoke in a familiar room, looking around and seeing that he was on a futon. He noticed that he was patched up, even on the wound on his back. He then remembered his fight against Scorpion. This left him with plenty of questions in his mind, including who he was and why he kept mentioning this 'Bi-Han' character. The door opened, revealing Kisuke Urahara in his usual garb, consisting of a black shihakusho, green haori with white diamonds on it, and the green-and-white striped fedora. "I'm glad to see you're awake. What happened to you?" Kisuke asked.

Cloak tried to piece everything together to remember what had happened. "I fought a ninja today. It wasn't an ordinary ninja either. In addition to the swords and spears, he could also use Hellfire. It's like I was facing a demon," he exclaimed.

"Tell me, did this ninja have a specific color scheme on him?"

"Yes. He wore yellow-and-black. The hilts of his swords resembled the stingers of one of this world's arachnids."

"Todd, you just fought Hanzo Hasashi, the last of the extinct Shirai Ryu ninja clan. He was killed alongside his clan and family by the Lin Kuei, a rival clan that they spawned off of. He was resurrected by the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi to serve him and enact his revenge as the Hell-Spawn Spectre Scorpion."

"He kept mistaking me for this guy named Bi-Han. Could he be in the Lin Kuei?"

"He was. I don't know much about the Lin Kuei. Logan could tell you more on that. On the contrary, though, I do know about the Shirai Ryu, but he doesn't know a thing about them. I do know this: Bi-Han was the previous holder to the codename 'Sub-Zero' until Hanzo killed him in revenge. I don't know if the Lin Kuei was truly responsible for the Shirai Ryu Massacre, but it's too late to find out. The previous Sub-Zero is dead. The title is being held by Bi-Han's younger brother Kuai Liang, who previously went by Tundra."

Cloak sat down and thought about the situation, including why Scorpion was there in the first place. "Since Scorpion's a Wraith, I'm assuming that Logan can't sense him. He has trouble with the undead anyways, and since he's helping the Justice League deal with Lex Luthor and his cyborgs, I'm on my own in dealing with Hanzo."

"That's not entirely true, Todd," Kisuke said, getting Todd's attention. "Logan's too busy helping the Justice League to even know about Scorpion, yes. However, I called in for extra help in dealing with Scorpion. You should be familiar with her since she helped out in dealing with the McSleez incident."

"Who did you call in?" asked Todd. Kisuke got up with the Exonian following. Pitch was in his Fox form sleeping on a pet bed. They went outside and saw a hulking 6'5 1/2" figure of Mexican descent standing near a lamppost. He had tan skin, brown, shaggy hair that went over his eyes, and a goatee on his chin. He wore a forest green shirt, a brown jacket, and blue jeans. "You brought Chad here? How's he supposed to help me fight someone as fast as Scorpion when he's just a human rock with Hollow-based powers?"

"Sometimes, it takes a turtle to beat a rabbit. Chad's only helping with the training, though. The other one I called in will be able to help you much better. You should recognize her since she's Logan's ex-girlfriend," explained the shop keeper. A Senkaimon opened up and out came a disgruntled Soifon. As usual, her cute face was marred by a scowl that would rival Ichigo Kurosaki's. "Welcome back to my humble abode, Captain Soifon."

"Save the pleasantries, Hat-n-Clogs. What did you call me here for?" she asked before seeing Todd, bandages and all. "What happened to you, Platinum?"

"I had a little run-in with a human-turned-Wraith. He was a Shirai Ryu that kept mistaking me for this particular late Lin Kuei."

* * *

They explained the situation to the two, shocking Soifon in the process while simultaneously giving Chad nightmares. The gentle giant remembered the encounter he, Ichigo, Uryu, and Orihime had with demons from Hell. He was none too pleased that Scorpion was around. "So it sounds like Quan Chi's at it again. Why hasn't Logan come here?" Soifon asked.

"I didn't call him," answered Kisuke, ticking Soifon off as usual. "Well I couldn't just ask him to come to Karakura Town all the way from St. Louis! That would take days! On top of that, he's helping the Justice League with a crisis of their own that'll affect him, Cammy, Chun-Li, Green Arrow, and their respective factions!"

"Urahara, you forgot the part where Logan can't sense the undead. Remember how much trouble he had trying to get a read off of Solomon Grundy?" Cloak asked, getting the attention of the two Soul Reapers. Soifon hated to hear Grundy's name since it gave her the chills. It still scared her to this day that Logan fought the big guy the night before he and Hal met Nate. "He actually thought that Grundy was just some guy in a really convincing costume for this event you guys call 'Halloween'. He didn't know that he was a genuine zombie."

"Todd, do me a favor," said Soifon. "N-N-Never mention that z-z-zombie's name again."

"Deal. Now we need to get back to Scorpion, though. How the Hell are we going to deal with him?" Soifon got an evil smirk on her face, the same one she and Logan used when they were about to put each other through a metaphorical 'Hell'.

"Oh, you are so going to regret asking that question," said Kisuke.

* * *

Cloak had no idea how right Kisuke was. Soifon's training regimen for dealing with Scorpion included learning the Wraith's moveset. Since he experienced first-hand what Hanzo could do, he could let them know about the arsenal he had. Chad was going to help to make it more difficult with his Fullbringer techniques. Cloak wouldn't have minded that if it weren't for the fact that Soifon was notorious for having one of the hardest training regimens in Soul Society. The training consisted primarily of holes that would have fire coming out (not enough to affect Kisuke's shop since they were using his underground facility), Soifon's 'Flash Step' speed mimicking Scorpion's 'Teleport Punch'. As the cherry on top, Chad had his 'Brazo Derecha de Gigante' and 'Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo' active and ready to fire their respective attacks at the both of them.

Soifon started it off by using the 'Flash Step'. Cloak blocked the oncoming attack, but Kisuke activated the fire pit that was near him. He dodged it and formed two swords from the Symbiote. Slashing at Soifon, he dodged her quick strikes and Kisuke's fire pits. "El Directo!" Chad shouted, firing a blast from his right arm. The Exonian and the Soul Reaper dodged it and continued their sparring practice. Soifon did a Kido blast (everyone's favorite Hado attack to be precise: 'Hado no. 4: Byakurai'). Since Cloak was still unfamiliar with the receiving end of Kido spells, this one hit him square on the chest. He was lucky that Soifon didn't say the full incantation or it would kill him. "La Muerte!" Chad exclaimed.

This one was dodged by both fighters, but Cloak was struggling still. He saw that Soifon was gone, so he figured she used her 'Flash Step' again. As expected, she appeared behind him waiting to strike. The Exonian was prepared, however, and used a web to send her to a wall. Soifon shot him a scowl and cut through the webbing. She leapt towards Cloak and prepared to strike him, the latter countering with a slash of his own. They stopped short of each other's necks, showing that the practice was over. "Nice work, Platinum. You should be able to match Scorpion move for move the next time you fight him," she said. Chad and Kisuke joined them.

"There is one part that was missing from the training," said Cloak, reminding the others about Scorpion's spear. "That kunai is probably his signature weapon. There's no telling how many people he's killed with it as Hanzo Hasashi."

"That's true," said Kisuke. "However, we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, you three need a rest before you and Soifon can go after him." Soifon and Todd nodded (reluctantly on Soifon's part). "I set up some rooms for you two. Chad, thanks for helping out with the practice. You can go home now." Chad nodded before going home.

* * *

Cloak and Soifon's rooms were right next to each other, so they could talk, not that either of them were much for talking. As they were getting ready for bed, Todd felt that he had to ask a certain question to lift a weight off his shoulders. "Hey, Soifon, what exactly happened between you and Logan that caused you two to break up? Sorry if it's personal," he added.

"No, you have a right to ask, Platinum. You and Ichigo are his best friends after all. During the two months between the McSleez Cyborg Incident and the S.I.N. Tournament, Logan and I have spent some time together in St. Louis, helping with the restoration and purifying Hollows. Logan was getting a bit reckless over the first month and it kind of irritated me. The straw that broke the camel's back came during an attack from a Menos Grande. Logan ignored my advice and, instead of 'Chidori Blade' or 'Chidori Javelin', he used his newly-developed 'Shinku Chidori', a close-range attack. He was reckless, but so was I. Instead of putting him down easy, I shouted at him, slapped him, and stopped the relationship dead on its tracks. Up until he met an Interpol Officer named Chun-Li, he was heartbroken…and it was my fault."

Hearing Soifon's explanation and her sniffling, Todd concluded that Soifon hated herself for that. Logan had told him about the wedding he stopped and the death of her father Wu-Shen Feng. He still didn't know why Logan wasn't with Chun-Li. That's when Soifon continued. "I decided to make up for my mistake and let Logan know that I still love him, and because of that, I supported him with Chun-Li. I never factored in a Delta Red soldier that's as petite as I am. Cammy came into his life and took Chun-Li's role. I'm still mad at that. In fact, one of these days, I plan to set the record straight with her and get Logan together with Chun-Li."

"If this 'Chun-Li' person doesn't hate you already, she will if you do that," Todd said. "Not to brag, but my brother and I each saw a set of three girls arguing, including my girlfriend Crystal and his partner in the _'Krag Times'_ Miranda. Neither of us figured out why they were arguing until it hit us that they were arguing over me and Brad, or rather, our alter egos Cloak and Jet. My point is that if you're trying to break Logan and Cammy up, then you're still technically fighting over the former. Chun-Li isn't crazy about you from what I understand. Causing Logan and Cammy to break up will cause her to hate you even more and shatter your bond with Logan."

After thinking about it, Soifon realized that her mentor Yoruichi would say the same thing, so she felt that Todd was right. "Thanks, Todd. My old relationship with Logan is rocky ground. I guess I'll have to get to know Cammy a little better," she said. "We need to get to sleep. We have a Netherrealm demon to take down."

"That we do."

* * *

Scorpion continued his search for whoever was able to pull him to the World of the Living and force them to send him back to the other world he was on. Due to his attire and fierce look, a lot of citizens were confused and even scared of him. It wasn't like Hanzo could pull off his mask. That would only make things worse. Eventually, he felt that he needed an aerial view, so he teleported on top of a building, scaring the civilians around him. He looked around and still saw nothing. "If you're still looking for this 'Bi-Han' character, Scorpion, I don't think he's here!" exclaimed a voice. Hanzo turned around and saw Cloak again. "Of course, if you're looking for a fight, I'll be more than happy to take you on again!"

"You again?" the demon asked. "Didn't I leave you to die?"

"You did. Now it's payback time." This time, Cloak started the fight by webbing Scorpion and using the webbing like a slingshot, kicking the Shirai Ryu in the chest and into a wall. Scorpion covered himself in Hellfire, getting Cloak to jump back a good distance. As Scorpion got out his sword, his Exonian opponent formed one from his Symbiote. The two of them clashed blades again, neither side letting up. Cloak moved the swords out of the way and shoulder-rammed Scorpion before dishing out another slash on his chest. Like last time, it was followed up by another kick back.

Scorpion retaliated with a slash of his own, which was blocked by Cloak's sword. The Spectre followed that up with a series of punches, kicks, and slashes. He sent Cloak back with an uppercut and grabbed him with the spear. "Get over here!" The Spectre pulled him back and continued his assault. Cloak finally broke the combination by using a hard kick on his opponent. He then retaliated by doing his own series of punches and kicks, including one hard kick at the jaw, followed by a grab and kick at the spine, and finally, a Symbiote hammer to the skull, knocking Scorpion down.

The yellow-clad ninja wasn't going to take the beating lying down, though. He did his 'Teleport Punch' again, something that Cloak expected. The punch was blocked, but Scorpion summoned Hellfire from under Cloak's feet. At this point, Soifon decided to jump in with a 'Flash Step' and kick Scorpion down, freeing Cloak from the Hellfire. She had her 'Shunko' power active, allowing her to create afterimages around Hanzo, only to further enrage him. She dealt him cut after cut, but he could not keep up. Cloak stepped in and pushed Scorpion towards one of the afterimages, which turned out to be good timing as Soifon slammed him down.

The afterimages continued, but Scorpion unleashed a wave of fire to dispel them, revealing the real Soifon next to Cloak. The Shirai Ryu attacked both of them with his swords, prompting them to block and counter with their own blades. They dodged his Spear and charged for him while it was stuck in a concrete wall. Soifon blocked the sword while Cloak slashed Scorpion's chest. He teleported out of the way for a breather and used his Hellfire under their feet. Due to the training they did, the vigilante/Soul Reaper team jumped out of the way. He fired both of his kunai, but Soifon grabbed Cloak and 'Flash Stepped' out of the way.

They reappeared behind Scorpion, but as they landed an attack on him, he set himself on fire, burning the two. He did a combination of punches and kicks that sent the two back. "Dammit, no matter what we do, he's just too powerful. We should've trained some more," Soifon said, spitting out blood.

"No. That would just wear us down even more," Cloak said. "The situation's not hopeless, Soifon. Think about what Yoruichi or Logan would do."

"Why Logan?"

"He's craftier than my brother is, and that's saying a lot." That's when Soifon realized a technique of Logan's that she could use other than the 'Flash Step' that didn't involve 'Chidori'. Cloak took the lead again as Soifon 'Flash Stepped' into the air. The Symbiote Vigilante reformed his swords and attacked Scorpion with a double slash attack. They countered each other's attacks until Cloak grabbed Scorpion's head and head-butted him. He then tossed the Spectre into the air and whistled, prompting Pitch to arrive in his panther form, grab the Shirai Ryu, and shake him up a bit before tossing him into the air again.

Scorpion recovered and attacked Cloak and Pitch again, this time in a relentless fury. Cloak did his best to counter and Pitch even contributed with several hard paw swipes, but Scorpion knocked the former down and kicked the latter to some barrels that were there. He was about to use a ball of Hellfire to kill Cloak, but a shadow was increasing in size over him at a fast rate. He looked up and saw Soifon diving down at high speeds. "Skydive Assault!" she exclaimed. Due to her petite frame, the shockwave wasn't as wide as Logan's, nor was the attack itself very powerful. It was faster, though, and it did knock Scorpion out.

Soifon took her time to breathe after the fight. "Well, we won," said Cloak.

"Yes…yes we did," Soifon said, as relieved as Cloak that it was all over. The two problems that the two of them found now were that the score was tied between Cloak and Scorpion, and that they had to find out how the Shirai Ryu got there in the first place.

* * *

Scorpion was taken through a Senkaimon to the Soul Society by the Patrol Corp. with special surveillance by the Stealth Force. As per protocol, they had a restrictor collar on him and a prevention seal should he get the collar loose. They also confiscated Scorpion's weapons, but they left the mask on him. "Well, I guess that's that. It was nice working with you again, Platinum," Soifon said.

"Nice working with you again too, Captain Soifon," said Cloak. Before he took off with Pitch in motorcycle form, Soifon tapped him on the shoulder. "What is it?"

"The next time you see Logan, could you tell him to drop me a line?" Todd smiled underneath the mask, knowing that Soifon still had her feelings for the Assassin very much intact.

"You got it. I'll even have him tell you about the biggest headache he got from someone in the Human World besides our 'Silver Lantern'."

"That should be worth hearing." With that, she went through the Senkaimon while Cloak and Pitch took off. The Symbiote Duo had no idea that they would be seeing Scorpion again sometime soon.

CHAPTER 14 END

* * *

**Okay, guys, I have a couple of good reasons why I chose to bring in Scorpion in this one. First off, he's the guest character on the DC Fighting Game **_**Injustice: Gods Among Us**_** (I was really disappointed that Ed Boon didn't add Sub-Zero as well; he's my favorite one). Second, the **_**Mortal Kombat X**_** comic book series is published by DC Comics, so he counts as a DC character now alongside his apprentice Takeda Takahashi, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and several others in the franchise. The **_**MK**_** franchise is still owned by NetherRealm Studios, though.**

**I chose flameblade89's OC Cloak, alongside Soifon, to fight Scorpion because I haven't used them in a while (Cloak since Chapter 7; Soifon since Chapter 8). I'm also overdue to use Dick Grayson after mentioning him so many times. Until next time.**


	15. The Chidori Lineage Pt 1

**The Chidori Lineage Pt. 1**

In the city of Neo Tokyo, 250 years into the future, everything had advanced in technology, medical science, etc. It's the same for everywhere else in the world as well. One tradition that still held on throughout the years are traditional fighting tournaments, but with the addition of machines. That's right. Now there are machines in the tournaments. Some of them are programmed with certain Martial Arts that are extremely effective, but none of the robots ever won. The humans have always proved superior to them, not knowing that one of Lex Luthor's robots survived and is plotting its revenge.

However, that's another matter to be settled by the local Assassin Kiryo Harufune. He was a 6'1" Assassin wearing a sleeveless black shirt, no jacket, two sheaths on his back for his swords, a pair of black pants, and black boots. His brown hair was shoulder-length and he had a wiry frame on him. On Kiryo's waist was a belt for all of his Trick Knives, a trait shared with his ancestor Logan Washburn. He also inherited Logan's preference for swords over guns, but uses a two-handed style as well as Logan's one-handed art. Kiryo heard an alarm go off, so he looked and saw a criminal being chased by cops.

The crook was running towards him as the police was chasing him in the flying cars. The Assassin jumped down and intercepted the thief. "Stealing tech, I see. When will you guys ever learn?" Kiryo asked rhetorically, frightening the guy even more. Kiryo tossed one of his trick knives at the crook's wrist and caused it to cuff him to a wall, causing the bag to drop as well. Grabbing the bag to take back to the store the felon took it from, Kiryo left him for the cops. Also like his ancestor, this Assassin wasn't one for talking to cops. Unlike Logan, though, Kiryo found no good cops among the Neo Tokyo PD. In fact, he's proven more than once that he does their job better than they do.

After dropping off the stolen tech, which consisted of microchips and circuit boards, Kiryo got a call on his cell phone. He looked and saw that the number belonged to his beloved mother. "Hello, mom," he said in an unsure tone. Kiryo loved his mother, but he couldn't understand why she left him with the Assassin's Guild without her, his brother, or his sister. He hated his stepfather with a passion, and for good reason: he killed Kiryo's father, a man he looked up to very much. Nowadays, he understood why his mother left him at the local Assassin's Guild: to train to get his family out of their current mess.

"Kiryo, my son, it is so good to hear from you," Kiryo's mother said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "It's time for you to come home, son." Suddenly, she hung up the phone, leaving a worried Kiryo with no answer as to why she was doing this. His thoughts turned his confusion to anger and determination to face his family's monster—his stepfather—and get them out of Neo Tokyo. As he departed for the apartment that he lived in, a familiar face from Logan's past shadowed him.

* * *

The countryside of Japan was as serene as it was 250 years ago. The pine trees gave off quite a peaceful scenery. It was a shame Kiryo saw not the cover, but the pages in the book. Kiryo jumped off the cliff overlooking his childhood home and went to the house. He didn't see his stepfather's car there, so he made perfect timing. He used his Hidden Blade and unlocked the door. "Mom, I'm home!" Kiryo announced. There was no answer. "Daisuke? Kimiko? Is anyone here?" Still, no one answered. He decided to check the basement.

Sure enough, they were in the basement clinging onto each other, fresh bruises on each of them, including their mother. Kiryo stepped in and saw the horrifying sight on each of them. His mother was a beautiful brunette woman of 45 years old, but she had obtained a fresh red mark on the left side of her cheek. His little brother, Daisuke, was 5'8" with spiky brown hair. He had a nasty bruise on his arm from being squeezed too hard and a nasty black eye. His sister, Kimiko, was 5'2" and looked like her mother. She, too, had been slapped on the face. Daisuke cleared his eyes and saw his big brother. "Kiryo, you're home!" he said in excitement/relief.

The two brothers embraced each other with a hug, joined by their mother and Kimiko. "That's right, guys. I'm home. And I plan to get you out of this mess."

"We missed you, big brother," said Kimiko.

"I missed you guys too." All of a sudden, they heard a door slam. The family knew that the evil stepfather was back. In stepped a man dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He also wore brown boots. He had a head of black hair, dark circles around his eyes, and a black goatee.

"Kasumi, I thought I told you to cook my dinner for…well, well, if it isn't the prodigal son," said the vile man. "Welcome home, Kiryo."

"I'm not your damned son, 'Horace'!" Kiryo said harshly. "Or should I call you 'Vandal Savage'?"

"I don't know who taught you that load of crap. Vandal Savage is long dead."

"Oh sure he is! And some robot has finally won a tournament! Do you really think I'm that stupid? You're nothing more than a caveman who got too close to a supernatural artifact 50,000 years ago and gained immortality as a result!"

"Fool! You may have figured out that I am indeed Vandal Savage, but I have gained enough intelligence and power to rule this world."

"And yet, you're still a caveman." Kiryo's remark angered Savage, so he charged towards the Assassin. Kiryo also had some tricks up his genetic sleeve due to also being the descendant of a certain Delta Red soldier. "Cannon Spike!" he exclaimed. The attack sent Savage out the cellar door and into the yard. Using his speed, Kiryo repeatedly attacked the caveman, not giving him a chance to retaliate. He jumped off of Savage's chest and bicycle-kicked his chin to end the attack, causing him to stumble backwards. When Kiryo got a good look at him, he saw that he was still standing with nary a scratch on him. "But how?" the Assassin asked.

"That was fun. In fact, your mother and siblings are so boring, Kiryo. They won't even try to attack me. Then again, you never were the brightest of this pathetic bunch. You share your father's mentality, but are more skilled than he is. You actually landed a hit on me."

"Stop gloating, Savage! What's your point?"

"My point is, Kiryo, I want you to join me in ruling the world as my enforcer. You can have it all, even a nation under your blades."

"That sounds tempting, but it's not going to happen! I enjoy free will, Savage, and others do too! I won't let you rule my family any longer, much less the entire world!" With that, Kiryo jumped towards Savage and inadvertently revealed a familiar assassination style. He had his left leg and right arm extended and the opposite limbs bent, his hidden blade extended out. Savage dodged and grabbed his gauntlet, tightening his grip on it until it was destroyed and Kiryo was in groaning in pain.

"That won't work again, Kiryo. I already went through it 250 years ago. You need a better attack strategy. It's too bad you turned down my offer. You would've had more time." With his arm in a vice and seeing that Savage grabbed one of his swords, the Assassin resorted to a technique that he hated using since others cast him out as a freak.

"Chidori!" he shouted, jabbing the caveman in the armpit. This sent an electrical shock through Savage's body, causing him to let go of Kiryo's wrist and sword. Kiryo retrieved his sword and, seeing that his stepfather was down for a while. Kasumi, having used Kiryo's distraction to gather their things up, helped Kiryo get his siblings in the car. The Assassin drove off after everyone was in the car and made his way to a spot that Savage couldn't find them.

* * *

The drive was relatively quiet. Nobody could wrap their head around the fact that their stepfather was a 50,000-year-old caveman. What they were also concerned about was that Kiryo used the one technique in his arsenal that he despised. Kasumi put her hand on Kiryo's shoulder to comfort him, knowing that he hated to use 'Chidori'. He knew his father taught it to him long before they met Savage. Unfortunately, the reason he was a social outcast was because he knocked some bullies down with it when he was a kid, freaking the other children out and causing him to be depressed. Despite his father cheering him up, even after warning him not to use it in public unless he had some ability to manipulate it, he vowed never to use it again. There were times when he really had to and Savage was one of those times.

The twins looked at each other, worried about their big brother. Everyone knew that he was beating himself up over using what he called a 'curse'. Neither Daisuke nor Kimiko knew where it came from, but Kasumi knew. She just didn't want to break Kiryo's concentration. They saw what looked like an abandoned house, so they pulled up in to rest. The Assassin kept watch, though. He and the others felt an eerie feeling around the place. "Hey, Kiryo, Mom, check this out!" they heard Daisuke say. Since Kiryo sensed that Savage was still a good distance away, he decided to check out what the twins have found. Kimiko handed him a book with an emblem with a spear on it.

"What do you make of it, big brother?" Kimiko asked.

"I don't need to open that book to find out what it means. This was where the Shirai Ryu Massacre took place," said Kiryo. "Every Shirai Ryu, Hanzo Hasashi included, were said to have been wiped out by the Lin Kuei and their leader Bi-Han, the original Sub-Zero."

"Huh? But I thought Sub-Zero was a good guy," said Daisuke.

"The Sub-Zero you're thinking of was Kuai Liang. He was the original's younger brother, and much more warm-hearted than Bi-Han. The Massacre of the Shirai Ryu is still a mystery to this day. Commoners would tell you that it was the Lin Kuei who caused it, but there are a few not-so-common folk who would say that there was another force at work that day."

"What would you say?" asked Kasumi.

"I would say that we can't condemn the Lin Kuei for the massacre that the original Sub-Zero supposedly led without evidence."

"Way to use your head, nephew," said a voice. The family looked in the rafters and saw a female in black clothing on one of the beams. It was Soifon, but her look changed over the years. Instead of two pigtails, she wore a ponytail, which had the gold ring at the end of it. She wore the Chinese slip-on shoes that she had before, only with her shihakusho pant legs tucked in the socks. Her back was also less exposed and her hair was shoulder-length like Kiryo's. It was a duller black as well, a small sign of aging. "Kiryo Harufune, A.K.A. 'The Ronin'," she said with a smile. "My, how you've grown."

Kiryo quickly drew both of his swords, ready to take on Soifon. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" he asked with a glaring scowl.

"I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Shaolin Feng, but my colleagues call me 'Soifon'. I've been watching your bloodline and lineage ever since the passing of your ancestors. When I saw what happened to your father at Savage's hands, I had to do something about it before my favorite family was gone for good. Though we had never met before now, Kasumi helped out with ensuring your bloodline continues. In essence, though, I figured that wasn't good enough. Kiryo, I decided to adopt you as my nephew."

"That's great, another 50,000-year-old human being." He saw that Soifon was chuckling. "What's so funny?"

"I knew I liked you already, Kiryo, but that solidifies it. I'm not human. I'm a Soul Reaper." The revelation shocked the family, as they have heard from their real patriarch about Soul Reapers and their jobs to make sure that the Spirit Realm monsters—Hollows—didn't affect the World of the Living. Even then, their father and his predecessors fought these monsters from time to time. Kiryo himself had yet to face one. "Plus, I'm only 400 years old. It's not just you I'm taking in as family. Your brother and sister can be my niece and nephew as well. As far as apprenticeship goes, that one is solely for you."

"Why would you do this for us?" asked Kasumi.

"Easy. It's because the ancestor I'm going to tell you about is my former lover. His name was Logan Washburn," she began.

* * *

_(Flashback: 250 years ago)_

_In St. Louis, Logan and Cammy were chasing after many crime bosses after putting Luthor in prison for life. They helped the Justice League round up every one of them and have them placed behind bars as well. Compared to the Cyborgs that Luthor had built, this was a piece of cake. Right now, they were relaxing and watching TV. Cammy had no idea that her boyfriend had a little surprise for her. The alarm went off, so they looked and saw that Bison was on the monitor. _"Attention, ladies and gentlemen, and Justice Leaguers of all ages!"_ he said. _"I have a challenge for you, the ultimate one. If I defeat the Assassin's Guild and the Justice League, the world will be under my thumb! Come, all who dare oppose me!"

_With that, the transmission was cut off, leaving Logan and Cammy to be worried. "What are we going to do?" she asked._

"_I…I don't know. I thought we took Bison down for good," Logan said. Suddenly, his face had a look of determination on him. "I think it's high-time we do just that." Cammy nodded. The two of them got geared up ready to take on Bison and deal with him once and for all._

* * *

_It didn't take the Justice League nor Logan and Cammy long to find Bison, being that he was above St. Louis. The mad dictator stood arrogantly on his ship before he descended slowly to the tallest skyscraper in the city. Naturally, he had a smug look on his face as he saw the different heroes approaching. His first target was Hal Jordan, who he knocked out with a Psycho Power-infused punch. John Stewart and Guy Gardner were next as he banged their heads together. Wonder Woman tried to rope him, but he grabbed onto the lasso and surged his power through to her, knocking her out as well. Flash tried running circles around him and beating him up before Bison clotheslined him and knocked him down._

_Next up was Black Canary, whose Siren Scream had no effect as Balrog knocked her out. The boxer was knocked out by a hit from Green Arrow's bow. The Emerald Archer aimed an arrow at the dictator and fired, releasing an Ice Arrow. Bison broke free of that and used a Scissor Kick on him, taking him down as well. Bison suddenly found himself surrounded by a silver dome, so he looked up and saw Nathaniel and Sharel. The blonde opened a portal from underneath the ground Bison was trapped on and a bunch of snakes came out. Each one bit him and clung on until they were all gathered. An explosion of Psycho Power went off and Bison came out of the dome unharmed. He punched the both of them in the stomach and knocked them both out._

_The next two were Cloak and Pitch, who were attacking simultaneously. Cloak jumped up, slashed Bison in the chest, and kicked him down. Pitch followed that up by attempting to run him over. This only got the dictator to kick him up towards his owner. "Not even a motorcycle with an autopilot function can stop me!" Bison exclaimed. He heard a sound, but turned too late as a couple of Batarang bombs went off upon contact. When the smoke cleared, he saw Batman charging for him. The Dark Knight and the dictator were trading blows. Batman blinded him with his cape and punched him repeatedly, attempting a beatdown. He followed this up with a bomb Batarang attached to his chest, but Bison was still standing tall, his clothes merely ruined and many scratches on him._

_Naturally, Batman was too shocked to react to Bison grabbing his head and shoving it to the ground. The evildoer looked and saw that his henchmen dealt with the other Leaguers except for one. "Batman and Wonder Woman have been dealt with. Where are Washburn and Superman?" He suddenly felt himself being grabbed by the neck and hoisted into the air before being punched above the clouds. Superman flew above him and punched him back down. "Well there's the last Leaguer," Bison said upon getting up and seeing the Man of Steel._

"_Your reign of terror ends here, dictator!" Superman said._

"_That's where you're wrong, Superman!" After that, the two started fighting again. Superman tried everything, including his Ice Breath and Heat Vision. Bison was merely scuffed, however, and used his Psycho Stream to corner the Last Kryptonian and used Psycho Power-enhanced attacks to take him down. Bison didn't give Superman any time to retaliate as he relentlessly punched him. The final, hardest punch was enough to knock out the Big Blue Boy Scout. "No one can match my power!" Bison exclaimed._

_He looked and saw Logan, Cammy, and Soifon, who had just joined them, heading his way. Cammy was the first to attack, not disappointing, as she used one of her signature moves. "Spiral Arrow!" she exclaimed. The drill kick hit Bison square in the face, which Cammy used as a platform to jump off of. Logan and Soifon followed it up with the former punching the dictator in the face and cutting it with his Hidden Blade. The Squad 2 Captain used Bison's lack of balance to trip him up. Cammy ended the combo by slamming him with her elbow._

_Bison threw her off and she landed near her boyfriend and rival. "That wasn't all that bad for a trio who can't match Superman, even when working together. Remember, boy, even though you and that annoying Substitute Soul Reaper contributed, the only two to have beaten me were Ryu and Akuma. You three are just flies to be swatted, just like the rest of your friends," Bison said. Logan had a look around and saw—to his horror—his friends Cloak, Nate, Sharel, Bluebird, Green Arrow, Arsenal, Hal, John, and Batman taken down. "Of course, we are missing the Bat Family hero Nightwing. It's not a complete party without the original Robin, now is it? Well, then you will have to do, Logan."_

_Cammy and Soifon saw that he was trying to suppress his anger to the best of his ability. Cammy didn't know what it was, but Soifon knew since there was a hidden 'Chidori' power that possessed him ever since he encountered Scorpion. "You said that Ryu and Akuma were the only ones to beat you?" Logan said, getting a cocky nod from their enemy. "Then you can add us to that list!" The Assassin took Bison by surprise with his speed despite Soifon's warnings. Bison retaliated by using his 'Psycho Crusher' as Logan was charging him again._

"_Hado no. 33: Sokatsui!" Soifon shouted, firing a blast of flame at Bison to get him off of Logan. She continued her onslaught with a series of punches and kicks, using her agility to dodge Bison's attacks. She kneed him in the stomach and elbowed him in the back of his head. Bison took his chance to counter, grabbing her leg and holding her upside-down. He looked at Cammy, who was charging him as well, and grinned. Before she could jump, he grabbed her head and held the two of them for Logan to see._

"_So tell me, Logan Washburn! How does it feel to be defeated by your worst nightmare? I'll take particular pleasure in tormenting you! I've seen you suffer emotionally at the sight of your friends falling before me! It won't be long now until I get to see what you've been holding back this whole time! Compared to me, Vega and Replacement Body no. 15 were mere warm-ups! But would you be willing to fight these two, your girlfriend and your ex, to get to me?"_

_Logan didn't even hesitate to answer that question. "No I wouldn't! But you're using a coward's method, Bison! Human shields, really? That's one of the most obvious signs of a coward if I ever seen one! I thought you were a man, not a monster, Bison!" Bison was obviously ticked at the remark, so he threw the girls, with only Soifon being conscious. However, it was how hard Bison threw them, especially Cammy, that really caused Logan to lose it. He began to have a glowing bluish-white aura around him with 'Chidori' electricity crackling around him. He also took more of a primal stance akin to that of a werewolf. His eyes didn't have an iris or a pupil._

_Soifon was horrified. The Kombat Rage that had influenced him while fighting Scorpion had gotten to him again, throwing him into a blind frenzy. However, Feral Logan had his target, and that target was Bison. As she watched, blaming the Shirai Ryu demon for the Kombat Rage, Logan had begun another onslaught on Bison. However, with no control over this form, Bison easily dodged the slashes from his claw-like hands. Logan unleashed a 'Chidori Howl' on Bison, but the dictator dodged it, making it land several feet away from Soifon and Cammy. "Damned Scorpion," Soifon muttered to herself. "If it weren't for him, Logan wouldn't have been exposed to the Kombat Rage or Mortal Kombat itself."_

_She saw that Logan couldn't hit Bison at all, and knowing that he had to go, Soifon took action. "Logan, listen to me! Listen to the sound of my voice! I know you can hear me, so listen to what I have to say! Both sides of you want to protect this planet, but how can you expect to protect yourself and Cammy if you don't calm down and let your logic take over instead of your anger! The Logan I know gets reckless, yes, but he does it by his heart, not his head! Your mind, body, and soul have to act as one to be in control! Focus! Otherwise, Bison will win!" Feral Logan realized that Soifon was right, so he calmed down while still maintaining the 'Chidori' aura._

_Bison saw that Logan's energy was becoming more focused as he was calming down. He stood in his upright position again and opened his eyes, revealing an electric-blue color. "You're right. Thanks, Soifon," he said with a smile, his voice being dual-toned thanks to the 'Chidori' aura. "Now that I have control over this power, I'd like to tell you its name, Bison! This is 'Chidori Discharge'! I'm going to use it to take you down for good!" Bison grinned and used a 'Psycho Crusher' to charge at the aura-covered Assassin. Logan stopped it with one hand and flipped him right-side-up. He punched through Bison's chest, shocking Soifon and the dictator, as well as everyone else once they woke up. "Chidori Cannon!" he exclaimed, firing a blast that not only got rid of Bison's body, but his 'Psycho Power' soul as well._

_Though initially horrified, Batman and the others knew it had to be done. He approached Logan as soon as his 'Chidori Discharge' dissipated and his eyes were back to the normal brown color. After a while, Batman let loose a rare smile, showing that it was a job well done. The others smiled as well after recovering from their initial shock, revealing that he, Nate, and Cloak had all earned their trust. He walked over to Cammy with a kind and concerned smile on his face. She returned it and grabbed his hand. After he helped her up, they embraced in a hug and kiss, having a saddened Soifon watch the scene. She felt Logan's hand on her shoulder, so she looked and saw that he had a smile on his face. She hugged him, which he happily returned this time. They were back on good terms with each other._

* * *

_(Present Time)_

"…and that's that. Ever since that day, I vowed to watch over and protect Logan's bloodline, including you, Kiryo. This includes from monsters like Vandal Savage," Soifon said. The others were still shocked that Bison was killed for good by their ancestor. Kiryo looked at his hand, silently wondering if he had been wrong about 'Chidori' this whole time. "Don't you see, Kiryo? You're more like your ancestor than you thought. You're kind-hearted, willing to sacrifice yourself to protect your friends and loved ones, and even use a move you absolutely hate. Logan never really liked using guns, but he had a pair of Colt .45 Revolvers that are from the American Civil War."

"I see…I would very much like to meet my ancestors. If what you say is true, then they're the reasons I have 'Chidori' and 'Cannon Spike'," said the Assassin.

"Don't forget your 'Spiral Arrow', Kiryo," said Kimiko.

"Yeah, dad never got around to teaching me how to perfect the 'Spiral Arrow', sis."

"If I could open a Time Portal, I would. Then Cammy could teach you. Unfortunately, Soul Reapers possess no such abilities, not even our Substitute/Squad 8 Captain Ichigo Kurosaki," said Soifon in a sad manner. That's when Kiryo thought of a friend of his that might help.

"What is it, Kiryo," asked Kasumi.

"I know someone who can travel through time using technology. His name is Michael Jon Carter."

"Wait. You don't mean Booster Gold, do you?" Soifon asked.

"Oh, not him!" Daisuke whined.

"I know Mike can be a little obsessed with the whole 'trying to be famous' thing, but he does sideline that whenever he needs to. He'll be an asset, Daisuke. Trust me."

* * *

At a Star Labs facility in Neo Tokyo, Booster Gold was doing some maintenance work on his robot friend Skeets. With him were two of the facility's tech experts, both female. "There, that should do it," Booster said. "What do you think, ladies?"

"I think they'd rather look at Skeets than your mug, Booster," said a voice. They looked and saw Kiryo with his family. "How are you doing, Mike."

"I'm doing pretty good here, Kiryo. I just finished some fine-tuning on Skeets." The floating robot spun around. "What about you? Decided on just hanging out this time?" He suddenly saw the smirk on Kiryo's face fall into a serious expression.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could send us back in time. 250 years to be exact."

"Let me guess: you want to meet your ancestor Logan Washburn, right?"

"You better believe it, Booster."

"Say no more, man. However, I can only take one of you besides Skeets here. The rest of you will have to stay."

"You're joking, right? Vandal Savage is looking for us!"

"Relax, Kiryo. We'll just send them to the Silver Lantern Corps space station to keep them safe until you get back," said one of the scientists, having known Kiryo personally since before he first used 'Chidori'. To Kiryo's lack of knowledge, Lina wasn't scared of him, but tried to understand and sympathize with him. She even served as his tech support since he started out as an Assassin. She was a slender, curvy young woman wearing red-framed pointed glasses and her hair in a bun. She was wearing a lab coat.

"Thanks, Lina." She caught him and everyone off guard by kissing his cheek, making him blush.

"Do come back alive, Kiryo."

"Oh! I almost forgot," said Kasumi. She dug into one of the bags they had and pulled out a box. Kiryo opened it up and saw Logan's Hidden Blades. "These are an heirloom, passed down through generations of your bloodline, my son. These are your ancestor's blades. Perhaps he can teach you how to use them."

"Wow. Thanks, mom."

"Now that that's settled, it's time to get going," Booster said. Kiryo looked back at his family, including Soifon, and Lina.

"Lina, you promise to make sure they're safe, okay?"

I promise, Kiryo."

"And Aunt Soifon," he said, catching Soifon's attention. "Watch your back."

Soifon smiled. "You watch yours, Kiryo. When you get to Logan and Cammy's time, Logan and I will have not made our amends yet. Try not to alter the timeline too much, do you hear me?"

"I hear you loud and clear." With that, Booster transported himself, Kiryo, and Skeets to the past.

PART 1 END

CHAPTER 15 END

* * *

**Okay, that was a long chapter. I hope it was a good one to introduce Kiryo in as well as Vandal Savage. I'm glad I used Bison. I need to include more **_**Street Fighter**_** and **_**Final Fight**_** villains. Let me know what you think.**


	16. The Chidori Lineage Pt 2

**Alright, guys, I know it's been a while since I updated this one, but here it is. When we last left Kiryo, he had learned from Soifon, his new adopted aunt, about Logan's history, mainly about defeating Bison for good and gaining control over 'Chidori Discharge'. Now, thanks to Booster Gold, he has arrived to Logan's time just before he encountered Scorpion.**

* * *

**The Chidori Lineage Pt. 2**

In Logan's time, St. Louis was in a peaceful state. The drivers were honking at each other, but it wasn't as bad as New York or L.A. The kids were playing and the parents were enjoying the sight. However, a few blocks away, a teenager with a goatee grinned when he saw no one around. He broke the window of a nearby car with a crowbar, unlocked it, and hotwired it so he could take it for a joyride. It didn't take long for the cops to get on his tail.

Kiryo and Booster Gold had just arrived in the present on top of a building while this was going on. Now, Kiryo fully believed Booster's stories. "Man, you weren't kidding, Mike. St. Louis in this time was different from Neo Tokyo in our time," the Assassin said, observing his surroundings.

"Yeah, and it looks like I timed it right too. And if I did, your ancestors should be after a car thief on Logan's motorcycle right about now," said Booster. Sure enough, Logan rode by on his motorcycle with Cammy riding with him. Chun-Li was in town, so she followed in the red convertible she was renting. "I didn't take Chun-Li into account. Did this guy really warrant an Interpol officer getting involved?"

"Don't know. But I don't think it needs us to interfere. We'd be messing with the flow of time if we did."

"Very good, Kiryo. You picked that one up right off the bat."

* * *

On ground level, Logan and Cammy got ahead of the officers with Chun-Li following suit. "Man, what is it with carjackers that always ticks me off?" the Interpol officer asked.

"I don't know about you, but if someone were to steal my bike or yours or Cammy's cars, I'd be real pissed, especially if they run up the mileage, burn out the engine, or ruin the paint job! If it was Guile's jeep, then I'd help him get it back!" Logan answered

"What if either me or Cammy got kidnapped?"

"That's easy. I'd be kicking the ass off of every scumbag in town trying to find you!"

"Glad you got your priorities straight, darling!" Cammy said with a smile. This also reassured Chun-Li and made her smile as well. They approached the stolen car (made obvious with the broken window), prompting Logan to give Cammy the signal. He flexed his shoulders and acted as a platform for her to jump off of him. She got on the roof of the car, reached into the car, and grabbed the car thief, hitting his head on the frame as well. She jumped off as Logan turned the bike around and fired a tow cable. The cable slowed the car down so no one would get hurt, prompting the Assassin to let out a sigh of relief.

"Man, that was close," he said, seeing that the car was indeed close to hitting a pawn shop as a mother and child were coming out.

* * *

The car thief was arrested and taken into custody, but not before being punched hard for hitting on Chun-Li and Cammy. As usual, Logan got into another argument with the St. Louis P.D. It wasn't a surprise since the troops were Nick Jackson's. Chun-Li wanted to get involved as well, seeing as how she hated Jackson, or 'Jack' as Logan likes to call him, as much as he does. "You know, Assassin, we had him! And we would've gotten him had you not interfered!" exclaimed one of the cops.

"Oh is that right? Well pardon me for saying otherwise, but from the looks of things, we had to save your jobs _again_! If you would quit eating your daily share of doughnuts and actually do what you're supposed to, we wouldn't have had to interfere!" Logan shouted back, getting a laugh from Chun-Li after the 'doughnut' comment. This embarrassed the cop so bad that he had no response to it. He and his buddies went back to the station to report to Jackson and the Chief while Logan and the girls regrouped, but not without him getting a hug from the mother and daughter. That's when the 'Spirit Sense' kicked in. "Booster Gold's back," he said.

"Oh, not him!" complained Cammy. She was told about Booster's vain attempts to try to be a world famous hero. She wasn't fond of him as a result.

"I'm also sensing someone else with him."

"You mean it's not that 'Silver Lantern' guy?" asked Chun-Li, prompting Logan to shake his head. "That's good. After showing me that footage that Jordan had you take, I don't trust him."

"Hey, when Booster and Nate put their minds to it, they can be pretty effective. However, I've still got a few trust issues with the two of them myself."

"How harmless is the other one? Do you know?"

"I'm afraid not, Chun-Li. We'll have to find them later. We have to meet up with Guile, remember?" he reminded them, getting a nod from the two girls as result. Cammy decided to ride with Chun-Li instead this time. Unbeknownst to them, Booster and Kiryo were tailing them.

* * *

The three of them got to where Guile was, which was a tech lab in downtown St. Louis. They saw his jeep in the parking lot, so they knew to go inside. All this time, Logan could sense Booster following them. He decided not to worry the girls, though. He sensed for the floor Guile was on and found him. After taking an elevator to the third floor, they found the room that the Major was in. "It's about time you got here. What took you so long?" he asked.

"Sorry. We had to deal with a carjacker," Logan answered.

"So? You could've gotten here sooner."

"Yeah, but Logan wound up arguing with the St. Louis P.D. again," said Chun-Li, getting Guile to shake his head. "You should've heard the comment he made to this one cop about eating doughnuts. It was hilarious."

"I should've factored that in. That's enough fooling around, guys. Have you got any news on Abel?"

"I'm afraid not. He's still missing. The last we've seen of him, Ichigo, Ryu, and I had just beaten Seth and destroyed his lab. After we went back to our homes, we haven't seen him since," said Logan, who was serious this time.

"Alright, then I guess it's time we got down to business. As you know, Lex Luthor's been developing machines to use as a police force to substitute for the human cops lately. They are his key to a campaign to run for President, which would bring him one step closer to ruling the world. Since we've discovered that Abel was a prototype replacement body for Bison that he deemed a failure, it's probably for the best we don't have him around while we're working with the Justice League. The video I got from Logan had gotten me to hack into their systems and discover Luthor's blueprints. The General is having me do this as an off-the-record mission, so any reports won't be logged into the Air Force computers. We don't want Luthor to know what we're up to."

"That's a good idea," said Cammy. "As the biggest business mogul in Metropolis, he'll have access to military records. That's why any mission from Delta Red, Interpol, and the Assassin's Guild that involves these robots are off record as well. If we're not careful, we'll be exposed before Red Robin and Bluebird finish that antivirus program." They saw that Logan was looking at the window with a glare. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah," said the Assassin. "Booster and his buddy follow us." While Cammy and Chun-Li groaned, Guile looked in confusion as his teammate went to the window and opened it. Logan looked to his left, right, and up before looking down. He sensed them right below him, so he hopped out the window and grabbed onto the ledge, seeing the two of them, kicking Booster in the process.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?!" Booster angrily asked.

"For tailing and eavesdropping on us, Boost!" Logan answered.

"E-Excuse me," said Kiryo, finally getting his ancestor's attention. "Booster and I followed you here because I wanted to meet you. Aunty Soifon spoke highly of you. My name's Kiryo Harufune. I'm a descendant of you and Cammy White." The revelation shocked Logan to the point where he accidentally let go, but Guile caught him.

* * *

After that little fiasco, Kiryo and Booster filled the other four in on what's going on, including the reason why Kiryo called Soifon 'Aunty'. Guile and Chun-Li had Logan standing on one side of Kiryo and Cammy standing on the other. They noticed that he had Logan's facial structure, brown hair and eyes, and height, but his build was a little slimmer, closer to Cammy's. They noticed that he picked up the Trick Knife motif from Logan as well. All the while, Logan had a tic mark on his head. "Booster, if you don't want to die, you'll have to tell us why you brought someone else from the future here," he threatened, gritting his teeth. "Don't forget what my job entails."

"Seriously, Booster," said Chun-Li, who had a scowl on her face. "Cammy's a Delta Red soldier, Guile's a U.S. Major, and I'm an Interpol Officer, but we'll be more than happy to help him hide a dead body." Cammy nodded while Guile pinched the bridge of his nose. Kiryo blinked in surprise, though. Soifon never told him that Logan was that deadly. Now he knew where he got his short temper and serious personality from.

"A-Alright, but this is for Logan and Cammy's ears only," Booster said, in fear for his life. He took Logan and Cammy out into the hallway, leaving Chun-Li and Guile with Kiryo. Cammy had her hands on her hips while Logan had his arms crossed. "Okay, guys, as you know, he's your descendant. He wanted to come here in hopes that you would train him in refining his techniques. He already knows Logan's Trick Knife and Hidden Blade techniques as well as rustic versions of his swordplay and 'Flash Step'. From your side of the family, Cammy, he's perfected the 'Cannon Spike', but could certainly use a bit of improvement on his 'Spiral Arrow'. He can't travel very far with it."

"Is there anything else?" Cammy asked.

"Yes." Logan and Cammy were listening. "This is more in Logan's department. He has a bit of trouble accepting 'Chidori' as a gift. Instead, he calls it a 'curse'." The revelation shocked Logan. The Assassin put his hand up to stop Booster from giving any more detail as to why and looked in the window on the door. He discovered that Kiryo was traumatized by an event in which he used it that he decided not to use it any more.

"That'll be all, Booster. We'll see what we can do about that," he said.

* * *

Back in the computer room, Guile was having a glaring contest with Kiryo while Chun-Li was trying to decide to take him in as family or not, mainly due to seeing Cammy as a younger sister of sorts while still having a crush on Logan. She finally decided with a smile that he could be part of the family. She took the other two present in the room by surprise and hugged Kiryo. "Chun-Li, what are you doing?!" Guile asked.

"I'm just hugging my new nephew, that all," she said, as if it was the most common thing in the world. Guile pinched the bridge of his nose again. Suddenly, the door opened up again and Logan and Cammy came back in. Booster was nowhere to be seen. "Guys, say hello to my new nephew."

"I was wondering about that," Cammy said with a smile, seeing her longtime friend hug the Assassin from the Future.

"The thing is, Chun-Li, Soifon already took the role of the adoptive aunt in Kiryo's timeline. Apparently, she's been watching the firstborn of each generation up until a certain point," Logan explained, getting Chun-Li to let go of Kiryo. Now, she was mad. "Don't take it out on her. At some point, we need to have a talk to see if we can get this whole tension thing straightened out. Since Booster's not here now, I believe it's time for Guile to get on with the debriefing."

"Thank you. I hope you're paying attention, kid. As I was saying, I discovered something strange in Luthor's designs. It's like something I've never seen before. I just don't know what it is. It has this symbol on the chip." The Major showed them the processing chip and saw a symbol with three circles on it in an upside-down triangle pattern, the two outside circles each connected by a line to the center circle. "I don't know if Luthor meant for to be intentional or not," Guile said.

Logan took out the circuit board from the group of robots he destroyed on his covert ops mission with Hal, Arsenal, and Bluebird. He held it up to see any similarities between the two and saw that they were different on the processing chip itself. The one in Logan's hand had a LexCorp symbol on it. "Physically, they look the same. It's only the logo that's different. I think there might be a force at work here that's not Luthor." They had some thought to it before concluding that the Assassin Den-Master was right. He looked to Kiryo and decided to let him in on what he and Cammy agreed on. "Kiryo, with what's going on now, we could use all the help we can get. In the process, Cammy and I will help you refine your technique, most notably your 'Spiral Arrow' and 'Flash Step'. That is, if you agree to help us."

It didn't take long for the descendant to come up with an answer. "I'll help you, Logan. Aunty Soifon said you'd help me as well. She was right about you," he said.

"Well if you ever get to the point where you need to go back to your time, we'll understand. You can say 'hi' to Aunty Soifon for us as well. As for our Soifon, I have to make sure she and Chun-Li don't kill each other. In case Booster didn't give you the memo, she and I still have quite a bit of tension between us."

"No, he didn't tell me. Then again, I don't think he's ever seen her until my family and I met her in my time. She's more docile then."

"Well, she's pretty hostile here. 200 years of experience in the Soul Society has done little to quell her temper. That's why, whenever she visits and we're about to get into an argument, I head out of town to get a breather."

"Well I'm afraid that you won't get a breather this time, Logan," said a voice. The occupants in the room looked around, but Logan looked at the ceiling and saw Soifon phasing through it and landing on the floor. "Sorry to drop in all of a sudden, but we have a little problem that I need your help with."

"Now hold on!" Chun-Li exclaimed. "You can't just barge in here and take your ex-boyfriend while he's in the middle of a meeting, Soifon!" The Squad 2 Captain's face turned blue as she turned around and saw the Interpol Officer ready to kill her. She hid behind Logan for protection, but the Assassin quickly took an analysis of the situation and smirked at his ex with the 'going through hell' smile before using the 'Flash Step' to get away from her and to the other side of the room.

"Logan, you are one sadistic bastard," Soifon said with a nervous grin.

"Hold it, Chun-Li. I just wanted to give her a little scare. That's all," said the present-day Assassin as Chun-Li was mere centimeters away. "So what do you need our help with, Soifon?"

"I just need your help with this. Cindy, Chun-Li, and Guile, I need you to stay here. As a Soul Reaper, it's my duty to ensure the safety of the living."

"Excuse me, but in case you've forgotten, Logan's just as alive as we are!" Cammy exclaimed. "If what you say is true, don't you think you should keep him safe as well?"

"Believe me, Candy, I want to, but this requires him. Our Substitute Soul Reaper wouldn't know what he's up against if I brought him."

"The name's Cammy! Candy is that fat oaf Rufus' bimbo of a girlfriend!"

"Whatever."

"Let's hear it, Soifon. What do you need my help with?" Logan asked while Cammy and Chun-Li were ready to kill her. "Oh, and just so you know, I'm not taking a step out of this room until you tell me."

"Is that right?"

* * *

The next thing they knew, Logan was being dragged out the window by Soifon running. She drug him several buildings away, much to the chagrin of the girls and Kiryo and Guile's confusion. Once they got to one of St. Louis' skyscrapers, Soifon threw Logan on top of the roof. "Man, there's nothing worse than an ex who can drag you through an open window," Logan muttered as he brushed himself off. "Alright what is it?"

"The problem is a demon that Cloak and I captured. We brought him to Soul Society's Muken, but thanks to Omaeda's 'training', the Patrol Corp. fell asleep on the job. Now he's loose and back in the World of the Living. You're the only one I could think of to help me take him down," Soifon explained.

"Damn. That's worse than Luthor alright. Does this demon have a name?"

"Yes. His name is Hanzo Hasashi and he's the last of the Shirai Ryu ninja clan. Since he was resurrected by a sorcerer of the Netherrealm, he goes by the codename Scorpion. I came to you because you seem to have the most knowledge about assassin clans."

"I'd like to help in any way I can, Soifon, but there's a problem. I've never heard of the Shirai Ryu, so I wouldn't know how Scorpion operates."

"But you're the only one whose location I know most of the time! I hate begging, Logan. It's against my pride, but I'm begging you to help me! This is your specialty after all!"

"Alright, I'll do it!" Logan said before his 'Spirit Sense' kicked in. He looked and saw Kiryo using the 'Flash Step' to get to them. This brought a smile to his face. "Well, I've got to hand it to him. His effort's pretty solid."

"His technique could use a little work, though. Who is that guy anyway?" asked Soifon.

"His name's Kiryo. He's mine and Cammy's descendant that Booster Gold brought here." As Kiryo finally caught up with them, Soifon made a mental note to ask Logan who Booster Gold was. "That was pretty good, man. Cammy and I are going to have to get to know your skillset better before we can help you improve."

"I'm afraid that you won't get the chance for that as long as that Soul Reaper is around!" said a demonic voice. Within a few seconds, the three of them were surrounded by a circle of Hellfire. While Kiryo and Soifon were shocked that there was someone who could pull it off, Logan got ready for a fight. Scorpion appeared from the other side of the circle looking for revenge on Soifon. "You there, Soul Reaper! Face me so you can taste vengeance!" Soifon was a little scared, but Logan put his hand in front of her to protect her as well as Kiryo. Naturally, Scorpion saw this as a death wish. "Get Over Here!"

The spear that he fired was aimed towards Logan's throat, but he caught it with his right hand, which was already lit with 'Chidori'. The electricity surged through the metal and gave Hanzo a real shock. Logan used 'Flash Step' to get close and kick him on the side of the head. Once Scorpion recovered, he teleported behind Logan for a 'Teleport Punch' to knock him down. He followed up with a burst of Hellfire, to the horror of both Soifon and Kiryo. The undead ninja then used both of his swords to slash him, spilling his blood. After that, Scorpion kicked him down and tried to stab him in the heart.

Soifon was too frightened, but Kiryo stepped in and attacked him. "Cannon Spike!" he exclaimed, sending Scorpion into the air and away from his ancestor. As Scorpion came down, the future Assassin threw a Trick Knife under him, unaware that the Spectre could teleport in the air as well. He and Kiryo clashed swords with the younger one obviously determined to protect Logan. Kiryo tried to slash at Hanzo with the sword in his right hand, but he dodged it and kneed him.

Soifon ran to Logan's side since Kiryo and Scorpion were away from him. She was in tears after seeing him like this, but was relieved to know that he was still alive. She used what Healing Kido she could to get him patched up, but the cuts from Scorpion's swords were still fresh. At least the burns were gone. "Soifon, how did you beat him last time?" he asked wearily.

"Cloak and I teamed up after Scorpion beat him and Pitch. After Cloak distracted him long enough and wore his energy down some, I did your signature 'Skydive Assault'. It wasn't as powerful, but it was enough to knock him out."

"I see." Logan was healed up enough to stand and do one more attack. He hated for him to have to, but he needed Kiryo to distract the Shirai Ryu long enough to pull an attack that'll knock him out. He charged up his 'Chidori' and waited for Kiryo to get out of the way. He saw an opening as Scorpion kicked the future Assassin away. He 'Flash Stepped' and used the other signature that Soifon couldn't use. "Chidori…" he began, punching him twice in the face with electrically-charged fists. "…Shoryuken!" After doing the uppercut, he sent Scorpion flying high into the air with a pillar of electricity, dispelling the Hellfire circle.

Kiryo himself was amazed at the sight. Now he understood why the move was part of his family's bloodline: If used right, it could be deadly to the opponent, but not to the user. He also understood that it was meant to protect his friends. When the light died down, Scorpion was out-cold while Logan lost his balance due to still being drained. Soifon caught him and cradled his head on her lap. She smiled and cried, happy that he was just resting. A helicopter came with Guile and Cammy on board and Chun-LI in the cockpit. Guile and Kiryo picked him up and took him onboard the chopper while the Delta Red soldier assessed the situation. "I'll send Isane Kotetsu to patch him up as soon as possible," Soifon said. "I'll also have the Stealth Force watch over Scorpion while he's in the Muken since the Patrol Corp. was trained by my lazy fat-ass of an ex-Lieutenant."

During the whole thing, the Captain had her back towards Cammy. "Don't think you're off the hook just because you helped him heal a little. I do appreciate it, but it doesn't change what you did to him," said the blonde. Soifon didn't respond, and since Cammy could only see her back, she didn't see the tears on her face. Cammy signaled the chopper to take off without her. Chun-Li nodded since she knew her friend was going to talk with her. "Soifon, this is the first time we've met. I don't think Chun-Li would've bothered exchanging words with you."

"I don't see why I should exchange words with you either. He was meant for Chun-Li after I broke up with him, but you stole him away from her." Soifon's words shocked Cammy to the core. She knew exactly why Soifon was saying this. It was to get her to break up with him.

"That's not true! We have free will! We decide our own destiny! Bison may have taken that from me, but Chun-Li and Charlie Nash got it back for me! Logan's free to choose who he wants to pursue! We pursued each other! I did not steal him from Chun-Li! You don't get to control his life anymore, Soifon! He's been his own man since the tournament!"

"I didn't control him! He was free to leave any time he wanted to, just like I did! I walked out and made the biggest mistake of my entire life! If I could undo that particular scenario, I would in a heartbeat!"

"You're right! He was free to leave! Just like he's free to live a life of his own! That's free will, Soifon! It's not yours to take away!"

"Well I got news for you, Doll Face! As far as I'm concerned, you're just like me! That's why I wanted Logan to hook up with Chun-Li!" The two petite women took a breather as some Stealth Force members took Scorpion back to the Muken.

"You know, we have a situation regarding LexCorp. They've gotten into the cyborg production business and, naturally, Lex Luthor's spearheading the project. It wouldn't be our first time dealing with machines. From what I understand, you've dealt with them as well. I hate to say this, but we could really use your help." Soifon didn't say anything, only turned her head to where she could glare at Cammy. "Soifon?" asked the soldier.

"I'll do it," the Soul Reaper said. "But it's just to help Logan, Chun-Li, and Kiryo. Not you." Cammy figured that this was the best answer she was going to get, so she nodded and left.

* * *

After Scorpion was brought back to the Muken, Soifon had sent Isane as promised. Now they were back in the den as the tall Lieutenant healed him up. After checking his movements and where his injuries were, Logan nodded towards her in appreciation. Cammy came in with a serious look on her face, telling Chun-Li and Guile that her talk with Soifon wasn't the most pleasant. "Soifon's decided to help us deal with Luthor and his cyborgs," she said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't convince her to leave Logan alone."

"That's probably for the better. She and I still like to torment each other to this day," said the smirking Assassin, who then looked over at Kiryo. "Is something on your mind?"

"That move you used," he said. "Is there a non-'Chidori' version? In case Booster didn't tell you, it's sort of been a curse for me."

"He told us. 'Chidori Shoryuken' is a fusion technique that I use as one of my Ultra Attacks. The first time it was truly effective was against our friend, Metro City's Bushin-ryu Master Guy…at least here in the World of the Living. The first time I used it was while I was saving Soifon from marrying someone she hated. I used it against her father Wu-Shen Feng, then followed up with a brand new technique called the 'Chidori Javelin'."

"That sounds like a sword-based technique."

"It is. Because of the near-fatal damage it can cause on an opponent, I rarely use it. Wu-Shen died anyways on account of an illness he suffered."

"But now's not the time for that," Guile said. "You guys are going to have to train him when Logan and Kiryo get some rest."

"Got it, Guile, but it's more of a polishing process for a few of his moves. This includes 'Chidori' and 'Flash Step'. I know someone who can help you with that better than I can."

"Who?" Kiryo asked.

"She's known as the 'Flash Goddess', but her name is Yoruichi Shihoin. She's Soifon's mentor."

CHAPTER 16 END

* * *

**Okay, that was fun to write. I've been busy with other works lately (in fact, I seriously need to update 'The World Warrior Tournament', 'Smash-Fest', and 'Digimon Tamers: A Different Story'), but I managed to find inspiration for this one. I hope you enjoyed it.**


	17. Going Bonkers!

**Going Bonkers!**

The desert outside of Coast City was surprisingly bearable to say the least. The weather was nice. There wasn't a cloud in the sky except to provide some shade. The wind even cooled it down. In fact, it was the perfect day to get some practice in. It didn't matter if it was Nate and Sharel honing their Silver Lantern abilities or if Hal was on one of his test flights. It was just a nice day to do so. Even Rufus, who was in his usual yellow and black jumpsuit, was taking his girlfriend Candy on a cross-country trip on his motorcycle. Rufus' look was complete with a massive gut, a goatee, and a ponytail. Candy was an attractive, but dim-witted, redhead who thinks Rufus is what he says he is.

Nate and Sharel were out in the desert practicing their abilities as Silver Lanterns. They started with some target practice. Nate did the basic shooting, but also used a guided energy shot he's been working on. It disintegrated his final target, causing him to smirk with satisfaction. Sharel was combining the ring's power with her own. With a swipe of her arm, the five targets that were in front of her going from left to right were now in the air like a train. She fired a large blast from the ring that not only destroyed the targets, but also caused Hal to pull right during a test flight. "That wasn't bad, Sharel, but you might want to steer clear of the planes. Hal has to make sure they're in one piece, you know," Nate said.

"Whoops," Sharel responded with a nervous grin. The blast also got the attention of the only motorcycle rider in the desert.

"KEEEEEEEEEEN MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRS!" They looked and saw Rufus running towards them in a mad fury. "Alright, Blondie, now you're going to get it! Now you're going to get your butt handed to you by yours truly! Just because you've got all that power doesn't mean you can show it off all the time! It's those flashy moves that are going to be your downfall! I'm going to pulverize you, de-pulverize you, and then re-pulverize you all over again!"

As Rufus was shooting his mouth off (again), Nate and Sharel considered him a bit weird. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Sharel asked.

"No, but I think he's looking for someone else," answered Nate. "I've never even heard of Ken Masters, but he might have blonde hair if this guy's mistaking you for him. I think he wants to fight you." They saw that Rufus was getting in his fighting stance.

"Very well, then. This should be fun. What is your name, friend?"

"Don't tell me you forgot, Masters! The name's Rufus, and I'm the Greatest Fighter in America, not to mention the best looking!" Nate and Sharel struggled to hold in a laugh at that last part. Rufus got ready to fight as Sharel got in her stance. The fat man jumped up with surprising speed and delivered the first attack. "Snake Strike!" he shouted, jabbing his fingers at Sharel. The inter-dimensional being put up a shield with her ring and blocked the attack. Rufus tried to punch through the shield until he finally grappled her. He jumped on her, jabbed her face with a few quick finger strikes, and kicked Sharel behind him, his stomach shaking at the end.

Nate was worried for her, but saw that she got up with nary a scratch on her, to Rufus' ire and Candy's amazement. The motorcycle rider charged for her, but she made a baseball bat construct and sent him away. "Oh man. It looks like I overdid it a little," she said with a smile. She turned to smile at Nate, but she saw that Rufus was sitting in a spot looking around. They were all surprised by the sight, but Sharel grew suspicious. "Something's not right here. I could've sworn I sent him far away."

Rufus continued checking on himself and found out that he was still intact. "Did you get a load of that? First, Ken Masters sends me flying away, then I end up back here. I don't know what's going on, but I'd certainly like to find out. Hey, Masters! How'd you do that?"

"Okay, first off, this isn't Ken Masters. Her name is Sharel," Nate said.

"Are you sure? Because what I'm looking at has that stupid blonde hair like what Ken's got! It's got to be him!"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately? I'm not Ken Masters. Second, I do have the ability to warp reality and send you back, but I didn't do it. I just sent you away." It was obvious that Rufus wasn't fully satisfied since he was looking Sharel over. "Will you just knock it off!?"

"Alright, alright, so you're not Ken Masters. Sorry for disturbing you. I have to tell you though, that was a rough hit you did on me earlier. I had no idea how I got back. I mean, I could've sworn I was sent to the other side of the city. Are you Supergirl or something…?" Rufus' bantering was cut off by a tennis racquet construct from Sharel, who was totally ticked off by his nonstop rambling.

"Man, he was getting on my nerves," she said. The duo looked around and saw that Rufus was back again.

"Okay, now you've done it, girly!" he exclaimed charging for the inter-dimensional being. "Messiah Kick!" The kick, naturally, was a down kick that was countered by her grabbing his leg, slamming him down, grabbing him by the collar, and head-butting his face before throwing him behind her. Rufus got up, angrier than he already was. "Galactic Tornado!" he shouted, spinning in a tornado and hitting her multiple times. It tickled her rather than hurt her, but the Earth started shaking. "Oh you think that's funny now, do you? Well get a load of this! Transform! Big Bang Typhoon!" Rufus' Ultra Attack was a bigger version of his 'Galactic Tornado' with the addition of the vacuum effect.

The attack continued to tickle Sharel and caused the Earth to shake. Nate saw that some boulders near the cave were about to fall. Rufus was about to attack again when he felt the shaking and saw that Sharel was laughing. "Hey, Sharel, you might want to stop laughing! You're shaking things up!" said the original Silver Lantern. Rufus was getting mad and not even putting two and two together. As he was about to attack her again, he put a wall in-between them. Once the girl settled down, the ground stopped moving. "I though so."

"What do you mean by that? Was she responsible for all that shaking?" asked Rufus.

"You better believe it. If she laughs hard enough, the planet starts to shake. If it shakes too much, it'll be destroyed."

"Oh, that's bad! That's worse than the guy who ran the S.I.N. Tournament! He tried to use his copying abilities to rule the world! Three fighters beat him, though! In fact, I lost to one of them! I need my revenge on him too!"

"Will you shut up? I have no idea what you're even talking about!" Suddenly, the three of them heard laughter going on, making Sharel get up and grit her teeth. "What's wrong, Sharel?" Rufus tapped the other two on the shoulder and pointed behind him. They saw a figure that was as skinny as a stick and dressed looking like a gentleman, complete with the top hat. "Who the heck is that?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bonkers, and I came looking for my precious Sharel," he said. He saw her standing with her fists clenched and a scowl on her face. "Ah, there's my beautiful diamond. What are you doing lost in this backwater world?"

"I'm not lost, Bonkers! This is my new home! I'm not your 'diamond' either! You threw me aside for a bunch of rocks! As far as I'm concerned, you're not welcome here!" she exclaimed, pushing him back with a blast from her ring. He reappeared behind her.

"Oh, I love it when you play hard to get." This only ticked her off some more, so she tried to hit him with a frying pan construct, but he dodged. Nate interfered and trapped him in a bubble. "I'm sorry, but this is a matter between inter-dimensional beings," Bonkers told him as he poked a hole in the bubble with his cane. He tapped the original Silver Lantern with the tip of the cane and it cause chains to wrap around him. "That should keep you out of my hair." Rufus charged for him, but was chained up as well.

Sharel was starting to get really angry, so she chained him up like he did Nate and Rufus and locked him in a crate. After that, she used her ring to take the crate to the ocean and drop him there. She even made an anvil to make sure he stayed at the bottom. When she got back, Nate had already gotten himself out of his chains and was currently working on getting Rufus out of his. "Well that takes care of him," she said. "Sorry about Bonkers, guys. Before I came here, I broke up with him. He doesn't seem to get that memo, though."

"No worries. I sort of got that hint," said Nate.

"You always were cruel, Sharel, but that's what I liked about you!" said a voice. Sharel was ticked off again since it was Bonkers again. They looked and saw he was lying on Rufus' motorcycle.

"Hey! Get off my bike! I put a lot of work in it!" shouted Rufus. "I swear if you put one scratch on it or lay your hands on my girl Candy, there will be nasty consequences! I'm a master of Kung-Fu, you know!" Candy managed to get away as Rufus was talking.

"Oh, is that right?" Bonkers got off the bike and tapped the bike, causing it to fall apart and Rufus to turn red. Sharel beat the fat man to the punch and trapped Bonkers' head in a sphere, attempting to cut him off from his air. All it took was a snap of his fingers and the sphere was dispelled. "Now you know I was never one for that kind of activity, my precious diamond."

"You…dirty…stinking…ARSNOT!"

"Was that supposed to be some kind of insult?" asked Rufus.

"I think so. I still can't understand a word she says half the time," Nate responded. Sharel did her best to try and hit Bonkers, but he just kept dodging. It was not her day to say the least.

* * *

Kiryo happened to be in town as well, looking to meet up with Cammy and Logan for proper training. Logan and Guile helped to make him a motorcycle. Due to not riding one much in his timeline, it took him a bit to get used to it. Chun-Li also provided him with directions to Coast City's desert, which was where they were going to train. How was the Interpol Officer supposed to know that Nate was going to be there? It didn't cross Cammy or Logan's minds that they should've warned her about that.

As Kiryo was riding, he looked to his left and saw silver blasts coming from the same spot "Silver constructs? I didn't know that there were Silver Lanterns here," he said. He saw a scrap pile of what used to be a motorcycle and looked further ahead and saw Nate standing with Rufus and Candy as Sharel was trying to hit Bonkers. The Future Assassin decided to put a stop to that.

"Well, my darling Sharel, I do believe that you are getting a bit worn down. You used up too much of that energy," Bonkers said with an evil smile, ticking the blonde woman off even more. From out of nowhere, the psychotic being received a foot in his face, courtesy of a 'Flash Stepping' Kiryo. He followed that up with several kicks and punches before knocking him down and stomping on his head. Bonkers disappeared and reappeared behind him. "Wow! I actually felt that one!" he shouted, hurting the Assassin's ears.

The group looked and saw him in a punk rocker's style now, complete with a Mohawk. Kiryo grabbed his swords and started to slash at him, but Bonkers kept dodging. The inter-dimensional menace made an electric guitar appear out of nowhere and strummed it, sending the Assassin back several feet. Nate was about to strike Bonkers from above with a hammer, but he dodged it and strummed another chord, sending the Silver Lanterns and Rufus back. He turned his attention back to Kiryo, whom he believed to be struggling, as he had his swords in the ground. As the pest was about to hit the Assassin, Kiryo used his swords to sling dirt in his eyes.

The swordsman followed up with an attempt at a downward double slash, but Bonkers teleported out of the way. "Oh, wait! I recognize you! You're uh…Kenneth, Kira, Kura…?"

"It's Kiryo. Kiryo Harufune," answered the descendant.

"Yes! Kiryo! So that's your name! I remember! I even read your two-part debut chapter! Wicked fight against Scorpion, by the way, even if that other guy had to finish it! I've got to say, your aunt is quite the looker!" This only ticked off Kiryo even more than he already was. "Seriously, though, you probably could've picked someone better to watch over your mother and siblings while you were gone. What were you thinking choosing the Silver Lantern Corp? Surely, you could've gone with a better choice!"

"Do you ever shut up?!" Kiryo used his 'Flash Step' and got in Bonkers' face. He tried to slash him, but he disappeared, causing the Assassin to look around. He heard some laughing going on, so he turned around and saw Bonkers clutching his gut. "Damn. I missed."

"What on Earth did you call that? Did you get weak since your debut chapter?" the menace asked, laughing his butt off.

"Do you guys have any idea what he's talking about?" Kiryo asked Nate and Sharel, paying no mind to Rufus and Candy.

"Bonkers is from another dimension like me! However, he enjoys causing chaos in my realm, which sees you guys as what you call fictional characters! It's one of many reasons why we're not together anymore!" Sharel answered. Suddenly, Bonkers appeared from within her mouth.

"Oh, she's such a kidder. We're definitely still together. I always loved her sense of humor," he said.

"If you guys have supernatural abilities, then you're screwed facing me, Bonk-for-Brains. These swords are a mixture of Titanium and Nth metal."

"Is that right?" Bonkers asked, taking a look at one of the swords. He bent one of the swords and broke it like it was nothing. "Whoops."

"That's it! I really hate using this one, but you forced my hand!" Kiryo shouted, losing his temper. He charged up his energy for a literally power-packed punch. "Chidori!" The attack struck Bonkers square in the face and sent him a good distance away. It also earned shocked faces from Nate, Sharel, Rufus, and Candy, as they've seen Logan use the move before, albeit in different variations. Bonkers got into a car that looked like it was too small and drove off.

"That's odd," Sharel said. "Bonkers never runs away from a fight."

"That was a complete waste of my time!"

"Speaking of which, are you from a different time? You used 'Chidori' and that's one of our friend Logan's techniques," said Nate.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I'm his descendant. Booster Gold brought me here so I can train with my ancestors. Logan Washburn and Cammy White happen to be my ancestors."

"Well let's find a place to hide before Bonkies comes back," Sharel said.

"Bonkies?" both men asked.

"That's what I used to call him when we were dating. He doesn't get that memo though. Now let's go." They had a look at Rufus and Candy as the former was crying over his broken motorcycle. "Should I bring them?"

"Yeah, you probably should. Take the bikes with us too," Nate said. Sharel nodded and swung her head, wrapping her hair around everyone.

* * *

The next thing Kiryo, Rufus, and Candy knew, they were in Nate's cave. The Assassin had a look around and saw the supplies that Nate had at his disposal. Sharel took the pieces of his broken sword, put it together with duct tape, and pressed her hands against the blade. "That should do it. Sorry about Bonkers. He's a little bit nuts," Sharel said.

"Yeah, I got that memo," said Kiryo. He took a few swipes with his sword and found that it was in one piece. "That's perfect."

"Sharel, he said that he was looking to train with Logan and Cammy. Can you bring them here?" Nate asked while he was helping Rufus fix up his bike. Sharel nodded and placed her fingers on Kiryo's head, making him blush a little. She saw it and thought it was funny, knowing the reason why. She found Logan and Cammy, but to tease him, she smoothly caressed his face, unknowingly making Nate a little jealous. She snapped her fingers and the two of them were in the cave.

"Whoa. You're right, Cammy. That is weird," said Logan. The couple came out from one of the holes in the cave trying to regain their composure. Unfortunately, Rufus saw the two.

"Ken Masters! So you finally show up!" he exclaimed. He charged for Cammy, but Logan stuck his arm out and stiff-armed him.

"For the umpteenth time, Rufus, this is not Ken. This is Cammy." Rufus' vision cleared and he saw Logan, who had a glare fixated on him.

"Oh, it's you again! You know, I've been riding my motorcycle through this desert with Candy when all of a sudden, I saw this grey light! I fought the source of it, which was that girl over there with your Ronin buddy! I fought her, but she kept sending me away! For some reason, I wound up back to where I was sent from! Your dorky-looking pal stopped the fight and we wound up facing this creep with a weird personality. He kept tormenting us, especially that blonde girl there, until your friend showed up and fought him. He used a move you use, that 'Chidori' attack, and scared the goon off." All this time, Nate, Sharel, and Kiryo were wondering how Rufus could talk so much since he was so fat.

Logan and Cammy took in all he said and looked at the others. "Is this true, you guys?" Cammy asked.

"You better believe it," said Candy. "One minute we're enjoying a nice ride through the desert. The next, Sharel there fought her ex-boyfriend. It was Kiryo there who scared him off."

"Kiryo, I thought you hated using 'Chidori'."

"I do. I only use it when I have to or when I get ticked off. The guy that Rufus mentioned earlier, Bonkers, is pretty good at making me lose my temper," Kiryo explained.

"Hold on. You mean you guys actually met?" Nate asked the two Assassins.

"That's right. Kiryo is mine and Cammy's descendant from the future. I had to kick Booster in the gut because of it. Chun-Li followed it up by threatening to hide a dead body," Logan humorously explained.

"You and this Chun-Li person are dark."

"Hey, my ex and I still share the same sense of humor." Logan turned back to Kiryo, smirking since Sharel still had her arm around him. She realized this after seeing Cammy with the look on her face that said 'overprotective ancestor'. She let go, knowing that reality-altering powers were still no match for angry mother-figures. "Well, I did say we'd start training here, didn't I?"

"You did," Kiryo said, putting his repaired sword away.

"Before we get started though, we have to find a way to keep Bonkers away from Sharel." Suddenly, they heard laughing going on. Logan and Cammy looked in the corridor and saw said maniac.

"Like you could ever 'keep me away'," he said. "Nice place you have here, you Green Lantern knock-off. It's perfect for you, but not so much for my dear Sharel."

"Bonkers, right? I've got a bit of a surprise for you."

"Dare I ask what it is?"

"Trust us. You'll love it," Cammy said. The interaction was puzzling Kiryo, who wondered how the two of them could stay calm.

* * *

The couple took Bonkers outside to show him the 'surprise' they were talking about. He looked around and saw nothing but the barren desert, the exception being Hal's test plane. "I don't see anything," he said before receiving a 'Shoryuken'/'Cannon Spike' combo from them. When he got up, he had a fist mark on the left side of his chin and a footprint on the right side. "So it was a trick, eh? I see that there are pranksters in this dimension as well."

"Yeah, but some of them are like you: not that funny," Logan said, referring to the Trickster, Joker (and by small extent, Harley Quinn), and Captain Clown. As Bonkers got angry for being tricked, Logan and Cammy got into their fighting stances. Unlike Kiryo, Logan locked onto the maniac's Spirit Signature, enabling him to keep track of where he was at. Bonkers warped from his spot and tried to sneak up on them, not taking the 'Spirit Sense' into account. As he tried to attack the Assassin with his cane, Logan dropped down and horse-kicked him in the stomach.

He got back on his feet and smirked at the villain. "Did you really think you can sneak up on me like that with my 'Spirit Sense' locked on to you? There are only three people who can do that and none of them are here right now." Bonkers was angry at the revelation, so he changed to his 'rocker' persona and strummed a loud chord, sending Logan and Cammy back. The two of them tried to stand their ground, but he strummed another chord, which fired an electric bolt at them and knocked them down.

After firing more bolts, the couple had to crouch on their knees to keep their foothold. They had their eyes shut, but Logan opened his and saw Bonkers' guitar about to hit him. He would've used the 'Flash Step' to move out of the way, but he knew that it would put Cammy in danger. He took the hit for her and stood his ground. He got back in his fighting stance, but Bonkers warped behind them again and strummed another chord, sending them back towards the others. Nate and Sharel went to check on them while Kiryo was getting angrier at the sight. "So much for your fighting!" exclaimed Bonkers. "You landed three hits on me total! I'm unstoppable!"

Logan and Cammy looked at the maniac and discovered a similarity in all of his personas: blonde hair. "Logan, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cammy asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "How Rufus missed this is beyond me. You and Sharel better keep your hair hidden." The blonde women nodded and hid their hair (Cammy through her red cloak; Sharel through a construct. "Hey, Rufus!" he shouted, getting Rufus to peek out of the cave. "We found Ken! He's right there!"

Rufus looked and saw the blonde hair. "Oh, so you've been here this whole time, huh, Ken Masters? I'm going to tear you limb from limb for destroying my bike! A real fighter wouldn't do that to another man's ride!" he shouted, charging for Bonkers. "Messiah Kick!" The downward kick hit Bonkers in the face. Rufus mercilessly beat Bonkers up, thinking he was Ken. With a series of 'Galactic Tornados', 'Snake Strikes', and his Ultra Attack 'Space Opera Symphony', which consisted of a flurry of punches and kicks, the last of which sent Bonkers into the air, and a chi-enhanced double palm strike, Bonkers was finally taken down. "And that's what happens, Ken Masters, when you destroy a man's motorcycle!" Bonkers merely groaned in defeat.

* * *

Sharel fixed up Rufus' motorcycle and got it working like new. After that, he and Candy were on the road again. He learned he was tricked into fighting Bonkers, but didn't mind since he saw him as more annoying than Ken was. Now, it was just the five of them with Logan and Cammy getting started on Kiryo's training. The first thing that Kiryo tried was the 'Shoryuken'. His version looked closer to Dan's 'Koryuken', however. "At least you got the basic concept, but you need to punch with the hand that's not your lead hand. Your raised knee is good, though," Logan said with a smile. "The last thing we need is another Dan Hibiki."

Kiryo looked up at his ancestor and saw the smile, responding with one of his own. "I'll have to come across him one of these days," he said.

"Well make sure you learn the 'Shoryuken' first," Cammy said. "That way, you can one-up him like everyone else does." This got a laugh out of both Logan and Kiryo, but Sharel and Nate had no idea who they were talking about. The descendant knew that this was going to be an interesting time with them.

CHAPTER 17 END

* * *

**Alright, now that's done. I need to introduce more **_**Street Fighter**_** characters into this thing, so I'm also going to do a little side-story called 'Ibuki Chronicles', which focuses on Ibuki and her friends Sakura, Elena, and Makoto. I also got Chapter 17 of 'The World Warrior Tournament' posted as well. The next chapter's going to introduce a brand new OC as well as bringing in a DC character that was recently resurrected in the comics. And no, this one won't feature Dick Grayson in it. I have a plan for that one.**


	18. Dust to Dust

**Alright, guys and gals, this chapter is going to introduce a brand new OC of mine who, unlike Kiryo, has not a bit of Logan's bloodline in her. I hope you'll enjoy her.**

* * *

**Dust to Dust**

Gotham City was a place of social division. First off, there were the big wigs: the guys who ran the city. They built the skyscrapers, the railroads, everything. Chief among them was Wayne Enterprise, which was branched out into different umbrella companies. These have served to help out both the company's CEO Bruce Wayne and Batman (who, unbeknownst to them, is his alter ego). While Gotham's citizens were appreciative of the efforts of both of them and Batman's associates (except for the Red Hood of course), it was the criminals and corrupt cops who hated them, especially the Dark Knight.

On the other hand, there were the lower and middle classes: citizens who struggle just to earn a buck or gain some kind of necessity in life. While most of the high society would ignore them, Wayne Enterprise often lends a helping hand, as directed by Bruce in a similar manner to his father Thomas Wayne and the rest of their predecessors. The middle class often worked to pay the bills while the lower class lived in the slums of Gotham. The alleyways were also a setting for illegal activity, such as prostitution, drug deals, thefts, murders, and the whole nine yards. Despite his best efforts, even Batman has trouble stopping them from happening.

Right now, there was a crook running for his life. It wasn't because he was being chased by Commissioner Gordon's goons. He could easily outrun them. It was because he was being chased by a member of the Bat Family. He thought for sure that it was Red Robin or even Batman himself. He was a slightly overweight man with white hair on the sides and top of his head. The man was chased into an alleyway, cornered at a wall as the figure stood on top of one of the buildings adjacent to it. "Stop chasing me! Do you even know who I am? I can even pay you big bucks if you let me go!" he said.

"That's not your money. It's money you extracted from both the poor and the rich to try and make your way up the ladder illegally," said the figure, whose voice was that of a kid, but still intimidating. He then looked on his glove as a holo-computer came up. "Rupert Thorne: a corrupt politician turned crime boss. It's hard to believe you can actually run." The kid switched off the holo-computer and jumped down before standing straight up. To Thorne's horror, the kid was dressed in a red shirt and black pants with gloves to match, but instead of a bird symbol like Red Robin, he had on a normal utility belt and the all-too-familiar 'R' on his chest with a green domino mask.

Thorne's fears have escalated when the kid looked up at him with the hood still on. "No. I-I thought you were Red Robin, or even the Bat! In fact, I thought you were dead!"

"Maybe I'm a ghost. Or maybe, like the phoenix from its ashes, a Robin rises from the grave." He then pounced on Thorne as the latter blacked out.

* * *

The police had arrested Thorne as Robin looked on. He kept babbling on about the Boy Wonder being alive, but none of the arresting officers believed him. The three exceptions were Renee Montoya (a female officer dressed in a black shirt and khaki pants), Joseph King (an officer wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a black jacket) and Jim Gordon (an elderly man who was the Commissioner of the GCPD with orange hair and mustache). Gordon looked around and saw the silhouette of the hooded Robin looking down at the scene. He let out a small smirk, getting the Boy Wonder to nod back.

After they left, Robin's communicator went off. "Robin here," he said. "Tobias Whale's been captured and the only three officers who know I'm back are Gordon, Montoya, and the new guy, Joseph King."

"_That's good. They're the only three cops in all of the Police Department that are actually good morally,"_ said Batman, who was on the other end. _"You did well, Robin. Come on home."_ Robin was about to respond until he caught on to a peculiar sight. It was a girl walking into an alleyway. _"Robin?"_

"I'll be a little late getting back. There's something I have to check out." Batman gave him the go-ahead and he tailed the girl, not knowing why except that he felt he'd have a sort of connection with her in the near future.

* * *

The underground often played the setting to many illegal activities to a worse degree than the alleyways alone. This was an area that Batman and the crew rarely touched. When they did, it's usually Jason Todd, AKA the Red Hood, who checked the place out. The biggest activity here was underground fighting, which was where the girl from earlier, Shannon Youngblood, was going to participate. Shannon wore a black tank top, blue jean jacket, denim shorts, black stockings, and white sneakers. Her hair, which was in a bob cut, was black with red and gold highlights pointed to her left while her eyes were baby blue. Her cool expression, combined with the eyes, has garnered looks of attraction from men around her. However, she hardly notices or even cares about that.

As she approached the crowd, it was made obvious that she had a reputation. "So, who am I fighting this time, Saul?" she asked the ringmaster.

"Oh hey, Dust. You'll get a kick out of this guy. He calls himself the 'King of Muay Thai'. I think we all know that that title belongs to Sagat. Take a look," said Saul. Shannon looked and there stood, in his blue shorts, yellow headband, yellow and blue bands on his biceps, and with an orange flattop, Adon. Apparently, his recent loss to his old mentor Sagat caused him to go on a downward spiral. "This guy decided to start in the underground and work his way back up. You're the only one he hasn't fought yet. If he beats you, he'll go back to the Rookie Leagues."

"He may look tough, but he needs to back it up." As Shannon walked towards the cage, she took off her jacket and entered, not knowing that Robin was watching the whole time. Once she entered, Adon began snickering at her. "Are you going to keep laughing, or are you going to fight?" she asked in a bored tone.

"You've got a death wish facing me, kid!" he exclaimed before laughing. Saul hit the bell, but the Muay Thai fighter didn't hear it. Shannon took advantage of this and punched Adon in the stomach, surprising Robin and everyone else with her speed and strength. She kept punching him in the face and in the chin. She spun him around and kicked him into the cage. He got angry and tried to hit her back, even using the 'Jaguar Kick'. However, she countered with a bicycle kick and followed it up by grabbing him and slamming him onto the ground. She inadvertently scared Robin by putting her foot on Adon's head, making it look like she was going to kill him. She kicked him in the head to knock him out.

Shannon put her jacket on and noticed that she hadn't broken a sweat. "Well that was pointless," she said. "I was hoping for someone to actually give me a challenge this time around."

"Heh, sorry, Shannon," said Saul. "But we haven't gotten very good competition besides Adon. With Sagat at his throne as the 'King of Muay Thai', he's all we managed to get a hold of. Here's the $1,500 we owe you. Take care."

"Whatever, Saul." She exited the alleyways with Robin continuing to follow her. He saw that she stopped at a charity. She took out some of the money and dropped it off in the mail slot. After that, she went home. Robin looked at the charity and saw that it was sponsored by the 'Martha Wayne Foundation', obviously named after his grandmother. The actions he saw in the past several moments left him confused. He decided to head back to the Bat Cave.

* * *

The Robin Cycle could be heard coming through the tunnels of the cave. The current Robin, Damian Wayne, had inherited it from Tim Drake after the former was resurrected. During this time, he had learned that his closest 'sibling', Dick Grayson, had been sent on an undercover mission to stop Spyral from revealing the identities of heroes everywhere, his own identity as the vigilante Nightwing having been compromised. Many still believe that Dick was dead, including Barbara (Batgirl), Tim (Red Robin), and Jason (Red Hood), which was why the mission when somewhat smoothly for the original Robin. Because Damian was Bruce's biological son and Dick was his first one overall, Bruce and Alfred decided to let Damian in on the secret. He promised not to tell Tim, Babs, and Jason.

Damian parked the Robin Cycle in its spot and got off of it. He took the elevator to the upper levels of the Cave and rejoined Bruce and Alfred. He saw that Bluebird was still working on the virus program to use on the cyborgs. There was no sign of Tim, though. "Welcome back, Master Damian," Alfred said, greeting the 13-year-old heir.

"Thank you, Alfred. Where's Tim?" he asked.

"He went with Jason and Roy to Bludhaven in order to stop a drug deal that was going on there. It was Jason and Roy's mission, but Tim went as the one who'd break up any fights the two got into," answered Bruce.

"And Barbara must be at home studying for a test." Bruce confirmed Damian's assumption with a nod.

"So, did you see what you wanted to see?" Damian answered by going to the computer and punching in a few keys. He pulled up Shannon's profile.

"This is Shannon Youngblood. Age: 16. Status: High School Student. She has good marks on all of her report cards and does especially well in Gym Class."

"Her mother is Sarah Travers-Youngblood, who was an old friend of mine before my parents died. We only met once or twice, but we enjoyed our time together. I was only nine then. I haven't seen her since the incident. As for her father, I don't know who he is, but I heard that he walked out on them and his son Isaac."

"That might explain her rebellious attitude. She's been getting involved in underground fighting lately and that resulted into tensions with her mother."

"I'll have Tim look into it when he gets back. I know you and Shannon are in the same grade due to your advanced studies allowing you to skip a few grade levels, but I'm sure you're still suffering a bit of stress from when Talia betrayed us."

"No!" Damian exclaimed. "I appreciate the concern, father. I really do. I am still suffering from PTSD, but I want to do this. I need to do this." This drew concerned looks from Bruce, Alfred, and Harper as the young Robin pleaded for his father to agree. They saw that he was swallowing his pride and begging for this mission to be assigned to him.

"Okay, son," Bruce said. "You got it. At school, you'll keep an eye on her as Damian Wayne. At night, it's the Robin costume. If the stress kicks in, call and I'll send in Harper to substitute for you. I know you and Tim still fight a lot, much like Dick and Jason did before Dick's mission."

"Thank you, father." Alfred and Harper smiled at the moment before the latter got back to her work.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shannon had just gotten home. She entered the door to a nice, cozy house while her mother, who had a slender frame and aged gracefully, sat in the chair waiting for her. Shannon flipped on the switch. "Oh…joy," she said sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," said Sarah. "How did your fights go?" Shannon noted the disapproving tone behind the question.

"Not that it's any of your business, but the only fight I had tonight went alright. I fought a has-been named Adon. I will admit that he tried, but I didn't even break a sweat."

"Shannon, if you keep this up, it won't look good on you or your reputation. I've been trying my best to supply you and your brother with what you need. So why is it that you always fight?"

"That's none of your business, mom."

"Anytime it involves one of my kids, it becomes my business. You make me worry, Shannon. You're not hanging with a bad crowd, are you? Besides the fight spectators, you don't hang around drug dealers?"

"No! Now leave me alone!" Shannon exclaimed, running to her room and slamming the door.

"Oh, what am I going to do with you?" Sarah wondered before turning out the light and heading to bed.

* * *

Back in the underground, some of the gang members were discussing what to do about their situation. To them, they get the crap scared out of them by Batman or beat out of them by the Red Hood or Shannon. One of them finally got mad enough to throw his empty beer bottle across the alley. "Man, I still don't get it! How is it that we keep losing to some cosplay enthusiasts and a 16-year-old girl?" he asked. "This city's gone to Hell!"

"Newsflash: the city is already Hell. Bats ain't making it easier, either. I'm glad I stay away from him when I can," said another gang member. "Then again, Hood ain't any different. As for Shannon, she does make Saul some pretty good money. She just gets 30% of the profits from her fights, though."

"That's still a lot." Just then, another gang member came to them. "Oh look. Scout's here to give us some news."

"You got that right, and it ain't good. Rupert Thorne's been apprehended," said Scout.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? Batman always gets his targets into jail."

"It wasn't Batman this time!" The others listened closely. "It was Robin. I saw it for myself." With the explanation, Scout's friends started laughing at him.

"Do you…do you really think…that the Boy Blunder's really back? You must have him confused with Red Robin!" said the second gang member.

"I mean it man. He had the short stature, the hood, everything!"

"I believe you," said a cockney voice. They turned around and saw a short man with a slouched posture and pointed nose. He had a monocle in his left eye, a top hat, and a fur coat. He walked with an umbrella in his hand. "It's no surprise, Scout. That little bugger's been back for a while staying in Batman's shadow. He only just let him go out on his own again."

"W-What do you suppose we do with him and Dust, Mr. Cobblepot?" Scout asked, getting the others curious as well.

"We'll lure the Boy Wonder to us so we can clip his wings…permanently. As for the girl, I'll send a few of my men, including my friend Bane, to hit her where it hurts the most." The slouched man then laughed maniacally, getting the crooks to grin.

* * *

The next day marked a few days left before school was let out for Summer Vacation. There were still Finals to do for the 10th and 11th graders, the former of which was where Shannon was at (as well as Damian). However, even though the two were in the same grade and in the same homeroom, they never spoke one word to each other, mainly because of Shannon's indifferent attitude. She didn't even notice that the Wayne heir was even in the class. Folks can chalk it up to two reasons: her ignorance for other people and Damian's stealth skills he acquired during his training with the League of Shadows (the same skills he utilizes as Robin).

The day went by slowly for the two of them with Damian not uttering a word. First, it was English Class. They had already finished their Finals, so the teacher had them reading books. She read _David Copperfield_ while he read _The Count of Monte Cristo_, which was a book that Bruce had in his library. Next up was Algebra 2, which was only slightly harder, but they still got it done. All this time, Damian had been typing notes on his phone on Shannon's behavior for the day. After that was their least favorite: Cooking Class. Again, they got the written part done quickly, which was the first time that Shannon had noticed Damian in one of her classes. He still took down his notes, but his assignment was to make some cheeseburgers while she got stuck with the fries. Amazingly enough, Damian didn't burn the burgers, proudly chalking it up to spending cooking sessions with Alfred in his head.

4th hour meant American History Class. Damian hated this particular class, or rather, the teacher since he had no personality. The biggest issue that was going on was the Confederate Flag debate. Damian made a note that it wasn't going to change history, but the only way that the future generation wasn't going to know about it was if it wasn't taught to them. He and Shannon both agreed that, chances are, that would happen. Damian was aware that one of Bruce's fellow vigilantes would do anything to keep the flag in the public eye, something that the older Wayne would support him on. Nothing interesting happened during lunch since they both ignored the bullies and popular girls at that time.

Next was Biology. Unlike the last four classes, Shannon and Damian didn't finish their tests before everyone else. The objective was to dissect a frog. Shannon didn't get a partner (because she didn't want one), but Damian did. It was an equally smart foreign exchange student from China named Mei-Ling, who had a bit of a crush on him. The Wayne heir acted like he was going to be sick, but it was to cover up his PTSD that was kicking in. His Biology teacher let him go to the restroom. He knew that she was going to call Bruce about the 'sickness', but he had to complete his objective.

6th hour for Shannon and Damian was Art Class. This one was Shannon's favorite since they let her utilize her favorite method of painting: spray paint. As required, she put a needle on each of the cans so that she won't go outside of her lines. The topic was the thing that made the artist the most happy. For Damian, it was a no-brainer: his father Bruce and his mother Talia al Ghul. He took some time to remember that his parents weren't together, so he was technically in a broken family like Shannon was. She would keep her work of art a secret from everyone but the teacher until the right time. As she usually does, her art was one of the best. She let out a few tears because of it.

The last period was Gym Class with the objective being to run a mile. This was where Damian was royally screwed. The two of them were out on the track in their Gym clothes. They were joined by several others, including Mei-Ling. "I hope you guys are ready to get schooled," they heard a jock say. "I'm about to mop the floor with all of you!" None of the students knew that Bruce, Tim, and Harper were in the stands watching the whole thing. The students got in a position with Damian worried more about Mei-Ling this time around, knowing that while she was slim, she wasn't the most athletic. If he let the jock bully her, he'd never live it down.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked the Chinese girl.

"I'll be fine, Damian," she said with a blush. "Thanks for the concern, though." Damian nodded, but was still worried about her. The jock was still shooting his mouth off (making Tim shake his head) as the students got in a starting position. The coach blew the whistle and they took off. To his own shock, the jock was in 3rd place, with Damian barely keeping up with Shannon in 2nd. He put everything he could in the race, but Shannon still got it first. Bruce saw that one of his Robins was worn down for the first time. He was very impressed with Shannon's speed.

Damian was catching his breath along with his friend Demarcus Gibson, who was Shannon's age, and Mei-Ling. Demarcus was an African-American kid who was the only one outside of the Bat Family and the Justice League (outside of Logan) who knew of Damian's life as Robin. A shadow loomed over the three of them, so they looked and saw Shannon looking at the young heir. She closed her eyes and handed him a towel. "Uh, thanks," he said, wiping off the sweat. She did the same for his friends.

"No problem," she said with indifference. "Your name's Damian, right?" He nodded. "Nice to meet you." Damian and Demarcus noticed the nonchalant tone in her voice as the former rejoined Bruce, Tim, and Harper. Shannon decided to head home.

"You know, I find it odd how you have all the same classes as her," said Tim.

"It's a one in a million chance," Damian responded back. "Funny thing, she never noticed me until today in Cooking Class."

"Whatever the case is, you need to keep your eye on her. If you play your cards right, she might be a good informant on the underground," said Bruce. "She could even prove to be a valuable partner to you."

"Hopefully, she's not like Jason." Bruce, Harper, and (for once) Tim nodded in agreement. They had no idea that said 2nd Robin was there as well.

* * *

Shannon continued to walk home instead of the alleyways this time, deciding to take the night off after the race. She got to thinking about how Damian seemed to be in all of her classes, Demarcus in four, and Mei-Ling in two. It had to be coincidence in her perspective, but she grew suspicious of the boy. Now that she thought about it, Damian did favor Bruce quite a bit. She'd do her research on him later. Right now, she was going to head home and take a nap.

Unfortunately, those plans were put to a halt. She saw ambulances and cop cars at her house, which caused her to worry. She rushed over to the stretchers, which had both Isaac and Sarah in them. "Mom!" she exclaimed, worry for her family lacing her tone. "Mom, what happened?"

"Some gang showed up and trashed your place," said a fat detective. "Harvey Bullock, Special Investigations. It looks like a hurricane ran through it." This revelation caused Shannon to break her tough image. She felt a loving hand on her shoulder, so she looked and saw Sarah giving her an equally loving smile.

"Shannon, it's okay. I know you blame yourself, but I don't. You can't shoulder responsibilities on your own. Remember this: not even Superman and the Justice League can carry the weight of the world on their shoulders," she said.

"Mom," said Shannon. Sarah smiled at her again before going to sleep. Against Bullock's advice, Shannon went inside the house as soon as her mom and brother were loaded into the ambulances. She looked around and saw a peculiar black-and-white spray paint tag. She heard the overweight detective shout at someone, so she looked behind her and saw Robin looking around. "Robin? I heard you were back from the dead."

"I'd rather you didn't bring that up," said the Boy Wonder.

"Sorry. So do you know what these tags mean?"

"These usually belong to a gang affiliated with Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, usually known as the 'Penguin'. While he's not one of the Arkham 'goonies', he does get a little out of control. Batman usually coaxes a little information out of him." The three of them (Bullock included) heard a noise, so the fat man moved forward to the source of the noise, which was in the bathroom. Suddenly, the door was destroyed with a punch and Bullock was sent to the other side of the living room. What came out of it was a bruiser dressed in the manner of a masked wrestler. He had tubes coming from a tank on his back to his head and arms. "What the heck is Bane doing here?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure, but we have to take him down," Shannon said, her confidence returning. Robin started it off by throwing three birdarangs, which Bane blocked. Shannon attacked the big man with a somersault kick. He grabbed her ankle, slammed her on the walls, and then threw her back at her new partner. Robin recovered and threw down a smoke bomb. He followed up by throwing a birdarang over Bane's head. It came back, but the criminal grabbed it and crushed it with his hand. Since he still couldn't see anything through the smoke, Shannon figured she'd try to use that to her advantage.

She attacked Bane, but he grabbed her and held her in the air, putting Robin in a tough spot. "I wouldn't get any of your toys if I were you, _hijo_," he said as the Boy Wonder was about to reach into his Utility Belt. "If you make one wrong move, she'll get what Batman got the first time he fought me." Shannon looked and saw the tough decision that was on Robin's mind. She didn't want to burden him anymore than she did and her death would be killer on his conscience. However, the young street fighter saw that Bane had made a critical error in judgment. She freed her arm and grabbed a tube. She stuck it in the light that was near them to shock him.

Pretty soon, Bane reverted to his normal state and Shannon landed on her feet. The formerly big giant fell to his side knocked out. "How did you know to do that?" Robin asked.

"It's a pretty obvious weakness. Even a toddler could point it out," she said. "Still, just what the heck did I get myself into?"

"Welcome to my world." Robin pulled up his holo-computer again. "Penguin's got a nightclub in Downtown Gotham called 'The Iceberg Lounge'. It functions as both a restaurant and a hideout." He didn't hear anything coming from Shannon so he looked in her direction and saw that she was looking at a picture that was cracked. "Shannon?"

"This was my favorite picture. It was the last one my dad took with us before he left us." Robin looked and saw an average-looking man with black hair, a blue button-up shirt, and khaki pants. The girl cleared the tears in her eyes and had a good look at Robin, making a mental note to tell him something that was between them later. "Robin, I need your help. I don't want Batman's. I don't need his. I just need yours," she said. Robin saw the determined look in her eyes. "I need your help not to fight Cobblepot, but to make sure I don't kill him in revenge. At this point, I don't know how I'll be able to control myself. Nightwing and Red Robin were good at refraining from killing those that killed their families since they were in the shoes you're in now."

"And you want me to do the same thing for you?" Robin wondered, getting Shannon to nod. "Come with me."

* * *

The pair reached the Iceberg Lounge, which was a neat place at one point in time. It was obvious that Penguin hasn't taken the greatest care of it since the curtains were torn and there was dust on the tables and everything else. That was just the beginning. Robin and Shannon entered the lounge and found out how bad the situation was. "Well, what do you know? A lost bird and a schoolgirl!" shouted a voice. They looked up and saw Cobblepot looking down at them and laughing. "What's the matter? Did the Big Bad Bat leave you bored?"

"Nope," Robin said. "We're about to give you a facelift. Not that it'll help much." This got Shannon to bust out laughing and tick Penguin off. They heard some rapid stomping, so they looked up and saw a scaly monster of a man jump down from the balcony. He had teeth and skin like that of a crocodile. As the monster jumped down, Robin shoved Shannon out of the way and fell through the glass floor with the monster. Shannon was concerned for the Boy Wonder's life. "Don't worry about me! I'll deal with Killer Croc! You just get to Cobblepot!" Shannon hesitated, but nodded.

"I suppose an appetizer will do," Croc said, licking his chops. He charged at Robin, but he jumped over his head and placed a mini-bomb on his back. He then threw three birdarangs at the monster and made them stick to him. The bomb, along with the three birdarangs, exploded, but they hardly affected Croc. He charged at Robin again as the 13-year-old braced for impact. He didn't feel anything, so he looked and saw that Red Robin had hit him with his Bo. He reached into one of his utility harnesses and handed Robin another Bo staff. The duo, despite normally not getting along real well, worked in conjunction attacking Killer Croc.

The monster tried to attack them again, but both of them were just too quick. Robin had shoved a grenade into Croc's mouth and pushed a button, making it detonate. This knocked out the huge criminal and made him fall on the floor. "Thanks for the assist," said the younger one.

"No problem. We need to help your friend, though," Red Robin responded.

* * *

Shannon caught up to Penguin and had an angered look on her face. It wasn't just for her family and home; it was also for Robin. Not knowing that Red Robin had showed up to help him, she was furious that the dwarf of a man had sent Killer Croc after the Boy Wonder. Penguin knew why she was mad, but Shannon didn't even give him the chance to taunt her. She threw a chair at him, which he blocked with his umbrella, and charged for him, delivering the first punch. Penguin proved to be surprising for both his age and stature, jumping out of the way of Shannon's attempt to trip him and tried to stab her with the blade that came out of the end of the said umbrella. After a few slashes from it, Shannon grabbed it and hit Penguin's face with the hooked end.

This served too well to piss off the Englishman. He jumped and kicked the girl, grabbing his umbrella in the process, and pushed a button on it, causing it to spin around like a sawblade. He tried to slash her, but she continued to dodge. Eventually, she was backed against the wall. _'Mom, Isaac, Robin, I'm sorry,'_ she thought in regret to how she acted and couldn't save the said people as she saw Cobblepot approaching with his umbrella.

A click of a gun was heard, so Penguin stopped and saw the Red Hood standing behind him with his guns drawn. "I'd put the umbrella down if I were you, Ozzy," he said.

"Oh yeah?" asked the villain. "Why should I, Hood?"

"2 reasons: 1) I don't want Robin to be in anymore pain than he's already in. He and Red Robin are pretty much my little brothers, you know; and 2) I have a very itchy trigger finger tonight and Batman's not here to save you right now." Before Penguin could even think to put the umbrella down, Shannon took the opportunity to attack him, surprising Hood. She delivered punch after punch until Cobblepot found himself at a ledge. She grabbed his lapel and was about to drop Penguin down onto the same floor that Killer Croc was on.

That's when she remembered that she teamed up with Robin for a reason. "After what you did to my family, after you sent that monster down there after Robin, you don't deserve to live!" she exclaimed in Penguin's face before throwing him behind her.

"Then why spare me?" asked a weary Cobblepot. Shannon approached him again and knocked him out.

"I'm sparing you because Robin and I promised each other that he made sure I wouldn't kill you."

"I'd do the honors for you kid, but I've done pissed off Bats enough," said Red Hood. Shannon looked and saw that Robin was alright—and that Red Robin was with him.

* * *

After Penguin and Killer Croc were apprehended, joining Bane in Arkham, Batman had found the three Robins with Shannon. Hood and Red Robin were with him while Robin was talking with her. "You know, I'm proud of you. You've shown more restraint than I did when I first worn these colors," said the Boy Wonder.

"Yeah, well the outfit suits you, Damian," she said, revealing that she figured out Robin's identity. She saw the shocked look on Robin's face. "Surprised? If you really think about it, it wasn't that hard. You're Bruce Wayne's actual son and Dick Grayson was Nightwing and the original Robin. That means that your dad is Batman, Jason Todd is the Red Hood, and Tim Drake is Red Robin. Am I right?"

"You hit all the nails on the head, Shannon. The only other two outside of the Bat Family that know are Demarcus and the Assassin Den-Master in St. Louis." The two looked at each other and formed a silent promise to keep the Bat Family's identities a secret.

"So why exactly were you so willing to come with me and keep me from killing Cobblepot?"

"It's as I said: I didn't exactly show much restraint when I first became Robin. For the major portion of my life, I was raised by this group called the League of Shadows. My mother, Talia al Ghul, was the second-in-command of the group after we were betrayed by Ubu, who used to be the assistant to my grandfather Ra's al Ghul. He nearly killed him and as the betrayers were escaping, mother helped me out of the mess. After that, I was introduced to my father. He wasn't my first mentor as Robin, though."

"He wasn't? Who was?"

"My first mentor was Dick Grayson. As Nightwing, he trained me on the skills I needed to be Robin. During that time, I had an uneasy partnership with both him and my father until I was killed by my own clone. Father had fallen into a deep despair as a result. Jason and Tim tried to restrain him from killing anyone or forcing them to cooperate. Dick, despite feeling the same despair he did, didn't try to restrain him from killing this 'Heretic'. My mom isn't what you'd call 'Mother of the Year', but I can't shake the feeling that she still cares for me and dad."

"It sounds like we can relate. You already know my dad left us for reasons we still haven't figured out."

"Maybe we can be partners, Shannon," Damian said, making Shannon listen closely. "We've been through similar situations. It'll help to cope with this PTSD I've got from being killed and resurrected. Jason could relate, but what he got from being brought back to life was a mental breakdown."

"You know, my mom always did want me to have some good friends. I think I'll start with you. Friends with Damian Wayne, but partners with Robin," she said, getting an agreeing nod from the Wayne heir.

* * *

The next day, Shannon decided to visit Sarah and Isaac in the hospital. For this, she decided to wear full-length jeans this time. She still had her tank top and denim jacket as well. She knocked on the door and was given the go-ahead. When the girl looked inside, she was relieved to find out that her mother and brother were going to be alright. Isaac was just sleeping. "Hi, mom," she said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine, Shannon," said Sarah, relieved that her demeanor had changed. "You seem to be alright. What's going on?"

"The worst I suffered physically was that I was about to have my back broken by Bane, but I'm alright in that department. I'm still suffering a bit of trauma due to what happened to you guys. After we dealt with Bane, Robin and I went to deal with Penguin ourselves. We had a bit of help from the Red Hood and Red Robin as well."

"Well I'm glad that you're alright. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I don't think either of us would be able to live with ourselves if we lost any of us." Sarah smiled at her daughter again. "Now that that's out of the way, I believe I have to introduce you to a friend of mine…and a friend of yours. Okay, guys, you can come in, now." Sarah looked and saw Bruce and Damian coming in. "Mom, this is Damian Wayne, a new friend I made in school. I'm sure you and his father know each other." After Bruce and Sarah caught each other up on their lives (minus Bruce's life as Batman, of course), Shannon decided to let her mother in on something else. "Mom," she said.

"Yes, dear?" responded Sarah.

"I decided to do something right for a change." Sarah listened in closely. "I decided instead of fighting in the underground for money, it needs to be cleaned up. I decided to fight the crooks in the underground myself. I'll have Robin's help on occasion and I won't kill anyone like the Red Hood is prone to do." Sarah looked surprised at Shannon while Bruce and Damian looked at each other. Shannon got a reaction, but it wasn't what she expected.

"Shannon…I guess you decided to take my words to heart. You can't cover all of Gotham City on your own, so you settled for the underground. You've got my permission, but please stay safe." Shannon saw the loving smile on her mother's face again. The two hugged as she winked at Damian. He responded with a thumbs-up and a smile. It seemed like Shannon had taken the first step to fixing up her family. Bruce and Damian would help along the way.

CHAPTER 18 END

* * *

**Okay, this was long. I didn't mean to put in that much detail on Shannon and Damian's day or Gotham City's system. I just thought that the city was fascinating.**

**So a new partnership was formed between none other than the resurrected Robin Damian Wayne and the street brawler Shannon Youngblood. Who knows how this will put a dent in Luthor's plans? And more importantly, how will either of them be able to work with Logan and his crew? Stay tuned.**

**Since Damian's 13 years old and Shannon's 16, I'll have them with a brother-sister bond. I don't plan on having anything romantic between the two. Flameblade89 and I came up with a cousin of Shannon's who would flirt with Damian in the future. For now, the next chapter will focus on a certain teenage ninja from the **_**Street Fighter**_** series looking to get her driver's license with help from Logan and Chun-Li.**


	19. Ibuki Chronicles: Driver's Test

**Alright, guys, since I need to bring in more **_**Street Fighter**_** characters than just the three I use the most often, I decided to focus on Ibuki for this one. After that, any that feature her are going to have Makoto, Sakura, and Elena as well. I'll also bring in a certain flashy fighter and a certain Lieutenant that's supposed to be dead also. One of the antagonists for this story as a whole is still Lex Luthor, but as for this chapter, you'll have to read to find out. Logan is still in it, though.**

* * *

**Ibuki Chronicles: Driver's Test**

At a secluded ninja village in Japan, somewhere between Kyoto and Yamanashi, the ninja students were practicing their techniques, including stealth kills (on dummies, of course) and weapons training. There was a certain teenage girl missing, though. The instructors were worried not because she wasn't present, but because of what she was trying to accomplish. Right now, the village elders were discussing amongst themselves what to do about her goal. "This is bad. Very bad," said the oldest one. "How is she supposed to complete her self-imposed assignment?"

"You have to admit that she's trying. It's not every day you get to see such effort from a reluctant student on assignments that she doesn't want to do, much less those she does," said another elder.

"Yes, but the young one's ambitions and focus aren't cooperating very well," said a female elder. "It'll take nerves of steel to help her focus." Suddenly, the door burst open and a dozen troops dressed in yellow uniforms and red berets were surrounding them. A thirteenth man, who was familiar to everyone due to his scar on his face and pupil-less eyes, walked towards the elders. "Can I help you gentlemen? Perhaps you would like a cup of tea?"

"Well, to be honest, elders, I came to help you. I'm Rolento F. Schugerg, the leader of these men that surround you. I wish to form an alliance with your ninja village in return for your unwavering support for my military utopia. You seem to have some outstanding troops here," Rolento said, praising the ninja. "I'm telling you, it was hard for us to get in without getting spotted. These guys are even my elites."

"You're not just a leader of this army, Rolento," said the first elder. "You've also got a bad reputation due to your time with the Mad Gear Gang in Metro City."

"Just be happy that I'm in a good mood. I ask for your unwavering support because there is a matter of urgency happening right now. Now, I'm sure you all have heard of Lex Luthor, am I right?" This got the attention of the elders. "As it just so happens, he has been working on a robot army to take over the world, which would effectively render my utopia under attack. As we speak, he's sending some prototypes to Kyoto to give them a field test."

"Please tell me you're lying," said the second elder. "One of our ninjas is there trying to accomplish an assignment."

"I'm afraid I'm not lying, but that does bring up an interesting subject. I couldn't help but overhear that you have a situation with this one that takes nerves of steel. Whatever it is, I'm just the guy you need," said Rolento. The elders smirked at one another.

"Okay, Rolento, we'll make you a deal. If you can help this operative of ours finish her assignment, we'll align our village with your utopia," said the first elder. Rolento smiled back, but had no idea what he was getting himself into.

* * *

In Kyoto, dozens of Luthor's prototypes were patrolling the streets. These robots were green and purple. They also had a machine gun for a left hand. As it just so happens, Logan and Chun-Li got a call for help there. They assumed it was the cyborgs, so they attacked them. They were pushing them from the park to the streets, but the bots weren't even putting up much of a fight. "You know, I was wondering when we got to fight some more of these tin cans! Bluebird could use a little more data on them!" Logan exclaimed.

"Ugh! You got that right! I was kind of wondering the same thing! It looks like Luthor's still working out the kinks!" responded Chun-Li. She saw Logan reel his arm back for a technique from an old friend.

"Sonic Boom!" Logan fired the attack using Charlie's firing style, but his version was a little quicker. Since the robots were weak, the 'Sonic Boom' bore holes through their armor and destroyed them.

"You never told me you knew the 'Sonic Boom'."

"My training with Charlie was just a little, but it was long enough to learn that trick." They saw that more robots came to attack. Suddenly, it felt like it was burning up. They saw a small tornado of fire bursting through and destroying the cyborgs. "That was the 'Guren Senpukyaku'. But the only one who knows that one is…" They looked and saw a man with blonde hair down to his shoulders with a topknot in it, a red gi with the top tied around his waist, black sparring gloves, a black V-neck training shirt with red outlines on it, and ankle wraps on his feet. "Ken? Is that you?"

"You got that right, man," said the man, who turned out to be none other than Ken Masters. Apparently, he decided to sport a new look on him.

"Thanks for the help. We needed it," said Logan. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you in Japan? I thought you were busy in Chicago with the Masters Corporation."

"I decided to let my dad handle things for a bit while I took Eliza and Mel on a vacation here. I'm surprised the kid handled the flight so well."

"Wait. 'Mel'?" Chun-Li asked. "Who's Mel?"

"You mean you haven't figured it out, Chun-Li? He's my son." The revelation shocked both Logan and Chun-Li; between the S.I.N. Tournament and the Cyborg issue, they had forgotten about Eliza being pregnant. That's when Eliza, who was a beautiful blonde woman, came up to the trio holding a blonde-haired baby boy. "Logan, Chun-Li, I'd like you to meet my son. This is Mel Masters." They didn't have time to admire the little boy as there were more prototype cyborgs approaching them.

Logan, Ken, and Chun-Li got ready to fight them again, but a car was coming right up to them. "Stop hogging the road, you mass pile of bucket heads!" shouted a familiar voice. CRASH! BANG! BOOM! The group looked and saw the robots smashed to pieces.

"It looks like someone's got road rage," said Eliza.

"Seriously," Chun-Li added. "I don't know whether to thank them or give them a ticket."

"I think we better thank her," said Logan. "Come with me. I know who it is."

* * *

At the local DMV, the car from earlier parked in front of the building. The body could use a bit of a fix-me-up among other things. The front passenger's side window was destroyed and there were dents in the car from the robots. The driver's side door opened and out stepped a cute teenager whose long hair was in a topknot with three strands over her face. She was in a pair of jeans and a sleeveless shirt. It was none other than Ibuki, who happened to be out to get her driver's license. You would think it'd be easy, but with her, it wasn't the case. Her friend Sarai was sitting with Ibuki's pet tanooki Don-Chan watching as she got out. "Man that was a lot of fun. Sorry about the car," she said to the bald-headed man who was her instructor. "So, how'd I do?"

Ibuki's answer was the man throwing up out of the window. This got the teenager to hang her head in defeat. She and Sarai heard someone whistle. "Dang, Ibuki," said an approaching Logan, getting the girl to change moods quickly from defeated to excited. She even had a blush on her face. "It looks like it wasn't just those cyborgs you did a number on." She looked and saw that Chun-Li was with him as well and got a little jealous. She also saw the other three, but didn't recognize them until she saw Ken's gi pants.

"Logan!" she exclaimed, getting excited again and hugging him. Logan, as surprised as everyone else was, hugged her back. She even had her legs wrapped around his waist. "It's so good to see you. I missed you."

"How long's it been? Since the S.I.N. Tournament?"

"You got that right. Did you get your den fixed up?"

"Yep, and that includes my training area." Chun-Li decided to change the subject after looking around.

"Ibuki, are you trying to get your driver's license?" she asked. This stopped Ibuki from peppering Logan's face with kisses and made her let go.

"Well, uh…" she began, nervously laughing and scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I am. Unfortunately, I've only been able to pass the written part. To be honest, it's the actual driving that's the hard part." The older ones present had a good look at her driving instructor, who was kissing the ground.

"A driver's license? That should be easy to get!" said a voice. Logan, Chun-Li, and Ken groaned since they knew that voice anywhere. They looked and saw Rolento jumping down from the top of the DMV building. He had a looked at the car and saw parts of the robot, smirking at what he believed to be Ibuki's potential. "I was wondering why my troops and I didn't have any LexCorp robots to fight. Nice work here, Private."

"Those tin cans were LexCorp robots?"

"Yep, and it looks like you got rid of them all." He then finally noticed the others, but like Ibuki, he didn't recognize Ken. "Well, maybe you had a little help, but I know that in the village, you're among the best of the troops. Why I'm calling you 'Private', I don't know." Ibuki, Sarai, and Eliza were confused, but Ken was shaking his head, Chun-Li was rubbing hers, and Logan was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Um, who is this guy?" Ibuki asked Logan.

"That's Rolento Fricking Schugerg, an ex-member of the Mad Gear Gang with the mentality of a Drill Sargent," he answered. "I suggest you be careful, Ibuki. He's looking to build his own military utopia and I'm pretty sure he's trying to get your ninja village to join."

"Sorry, Assassin, but last I checked, the 'F' in my name doesn't stand for 'Fricking'. Now, let's take care of this driver's license issue, shall we?" It wasn't long until Rolento's assistant Holly Wood pulled up in a slightly more armored car that was painted in black. "Ladies and gentlemen, this vehicle will be the car that the Private will get that license in. I present to you the 2007 Toyota Prius. Customized with a silent electric engine, this baby works in the driver's favor for tailing scouts of the opposition as well as keeping the environment clean and healthy. As you can all see, it's well-armored as well since it's a standard military issue," Rolento explained.

"Do you mind if I take a good look at it, Rolento?" Logan asked.

"By all means, go ahead." The Assassin did an inspection and found the armor to not be over-the-top. This was surprising considering that Rolento has a tendency to go to extreme military lengths. Logan also saw that the engine was definitely in good shape.

"Well it looks alright, but are you sure Ibuki can drive a stick shift?"

"If she doesn't learn in this, how's she going to learn in the future?"

"I suppose you got a point…"

"Good. Now let's meet back up here in 1 hour. I suppose you need your rest, Private." He didn't look back to see Ibuki's response, which was a mock salute followed by blowing a raspberry. Logan, Chun-Li, Ken, and Sarai could barely hold in their laughter.

* * *

Waiting for the hour to go by, Logan and the rest of the group were discussing what to do about the license, but more importantly, how they were going to deal with Rolento. Eliza was bottle-feeding Mel, who was being admired by Ibuki and Sarai. "Okay, guys, any ideas?" asked Chun-Li, speaking to Logan and Ken.

"Well let's see…Rolento's a nutjob who thinks an armored car can protect him from a teenager's driving; he's gotten in our way before during the S.I.N. Tournament; and he's an ex-member of the Mad Gears," said Logan, confirming to Chun-Li that they had to get rid of him before Ibuki could get her license. "There's also something else we need to take into account."

"What's that?"

"He didn't seem to recognize Ken here, so that'll work to our advantage for a prank we can pull." At the mere mention of the word 'prank', Ken and Chun-Li knew what Logan had in mind.

"This should be good," said Ken as Logan called the Elders at the Ninja Village.

"_Ah, Logan,"_ said the first elder. _"I heard so much about you from Ibuki. It's nice to finally meet you, so to speak."_

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," said Logan. "I'm here with Chun-Li and Ken Masters, as well as Ken's wife Eliza and their son Mel. We managed to meet up with Ibuki earlier and discovered that you guys got Rolento Schugerg to help her get her license. Is that true?"

"_I'm afraid so. We made a deal with Rolento that if he helps Ibuki get her driver's license, we'll align our village with his utopia."_

"I was afraid of that," said Chun-Li.

"_However, we don't like Rolento all that well. If you guys could find some way to get rid of him, we'll be grateful. Thanks to Ibuki's interactions with you two, our village is already aligned with the Assassin's Guild and Interpol."_

"You know, you guys didn't have to do that, but thank you. As for Rolento, don't worry about him. We've got him covered," said Logan. The elder nodded and hung up as Logan, Ken, and Chun-Li smirked at one-another.

* * *

After an hour passed, they met back up with Rolento at the DMV. Ibuki was already strapped in, eager to get her license. Logan had already told her that he, Chun-Li, and Ken were trying to get rid of Rolento as quickly as possible, but she had no idea that they had a prank in mind. Since Rolento hadn't gotten in the passenger's side yet, the Assassin took the opportunity to give her a bit of encouragement. "Okay, Ibuki, remember to keep your hands at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions, keep your seatbelt on at all times, don't get out of the car until you find a good parking spot…" he said, the ninja girl listening closely with a smitten smile. "…and 50 points if you can get Rolento a ticket." This got Ibuki to snicker a little bit.

It was a good thing Ibuki's a good actor since Rolento got in the car after Logan left the window. "Okay, Private, you've been through this before from what I've heard, so you know what to do," he said. Even before the last course, Ibuki knew well enough to put on the seatbelt before she started the car. She did just that. "Very good, Private. That was a good start. Now, move the gearshift from 'Neutral' to '1st Gear' and we can continue." Rolento had no idea that the young ninja spotted one crucial thing as far as he was concerned: The ex-Mad Gear member wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so that would be another one that would be added to his charges.

"Okay, now, let's get this started," Ibuki said. The teenager felt a little odd with the stick shift, but she got used to it already. She did just fine maneuvering through city traffic, driving at the speed limit.

* * *

Ibuki drove them onto the highway as per the route that Logan oh-so-conveniently picked out. As it just so happened, Ken and Chun-Li spoke with the local Highway Patrol and got the okay to pull this prank. Since Ken was the only one that Rolento didn't recognize, he'd be the one to pull this off with Ibuki as the catalyst and Logan, Sarai, and Chun-Li as the witnesses. Chun-Li would wait in the patrol car with Logan, Sarai, and Don-Chan in the forest. It was going to be a good one.

Ibuki noticed that Rolento fell asleep after a while, so she sped up just a little bit, but barely enough to where they would get noticed. She knew that she wouldn't get a kiss from Logan, so she settled for the extra credit. _'Jackpot,'_ she thought before she went into character, seeing the cop car coming up to them. "Oh man. This is a first." She saw the officer and recognized him as Ken, immediately putting two and two together and figuring out that pulling this little stunt was going to be fun, but required her help. "Is there a problem, Officer?" she asked, acting her part after rolling down her window.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" he asked, acting his part as well.

"Um…about 80 MPH. Why?"

"Can I see your driver's license and registration?"

"Hehe, you know what's funny? I'm actually trying to get my driver's license."

"Oh, so you're a student driver, huh? I take it that your instructor is sawing logs in your passenger's side seat?" Ibuki, still acting along with Ken, looked at Rolento in faux shock.

"I was wondering why it was so quiet here. Mr. Rolento, we have a little problem," she said.

"H-Huh? Oh great. I fall asleep for a good while and we get pulled over by the cops," said the Drill Sargent, having just been woken up. "What can I do for you, Officer?"

"Sir, are you aware that you're responsible for keeping watch on your student and making sure she doesn't go over the speed limit?" the 'cop' asked.

"She went over the speed limit?"

"Yes. She was going at about 80 MPH to be exact. Since you're her instructor and you didn't watch her, that's on you for 100,000 yen. I also noticed that this car was armored. I'm afraid that that's illegal."

"It is?" Ibuki asked.

"Yes, kiddo, it is. That's why an extra 50,000 yen is going to have to be tacked on to your instructor there. Next time, I won't let you off so easily." After Ken gave Rolento the ticket and left, Rolento started to have steam coming out from his ear.

"150,000 yen," Rolento said. "In American culture, that translates to $1500. Just my lucky day." Ibuki silently cheered.

* * *

After they got back to the DMV, Logan was waiting for them with Sarai, Don-Chan, Eliza, and Mel. Ken and Chun-Li rejoined them afterwards. Ken gave them a smirk telling them that the mission was a success due to Ibuki's convincing acting skills. He and Logan exchanged a fist bump before Ibuki drove up. A disgruntled Rolento got out of the car, still angry over the fine he had to pay. "Okay, folks, so here's the lowdown: The Private's driving was good except for one little thing that cost me $1500. That was because apparently, the car wasn't supposed to be armored and she went over the speed limit," he said with a scowl on his face. Ibuki responded with a sheepish smile. After he left, Ibuki hi-fived Logan and the others in celebration.

"I got to say, kid, if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you didn't know about that," said Ken.

"Well, I do practice theater a lot," she said.

"C'mon, guys. Go get some ice cream. I'll join you in a little bit," Logan said, confusing the others.

"I'll explain it on the way," said Chun-Li.

* * *

The gang got some ice cream with Ibuki still slightly confused on the whole situation with Luthor and his robots. Chun-Li explained the whole thing to the others, including the prototypes that she, Ibuki, Logan, and Ken destroyed. "…and now Bluebird is currently analyzing the circuitry on the machines so that she can come up with a proper virus program to make them malfunction," Chun-Li finished, astonishing Ibuki.

"Wait, so you're telling me that we got involved in all of this because Logan simply helped out one of the Green Lanterns?" Ken asked.

"Actually, I think it dates back to the Cyborg Incident back when he was dating his ex. He teamed up with Green Arrow and Dick Grayson during the latter's time as Nightwing." Just then, Logan arrived to join the others.

"Sorry about that, guys. I was sending Bluebird some more schematics from the robots," said the Assassin.

"Oh, no problem," said Ken. "But you could've told us you were helping the Justice League this whole time."

"Heh, I guess Chun-Li explained it?"

"Yeah," said Ibuki. "But I think it's pretty cool, especially considering that you actually knew the last of the Flying Graysons."

"Yeah, but enough about that, what are we going to do about Ibuki's license, Chun-Li?"

"I'll be her instructor. I noticed that her driving wasn't as bad as they said it was, so I guess she learned from her mistakes. I just need you to look out for Rolento," said the Officer.

"Got it."

* * *

The next day, Ibuki and Chun-Li were out on the road practicing for the former's license. This time, things were going smoothly, but as Chun-Li predicted, Rolento was spying on them from a distance. "Okay, Ibuki, remember to keep your hands at the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions. You're doing well so far," said the officer.

"Thanks. So can I ask you a question?" Ibuki asked.

"I don't see why not?"

"I saw that you and Logan both arrived here to help me, but are you two still together?"

"Uh…not as a 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing. Have you ever heard of something called 'friends with benefits'?"

"That's where you're still friends, but you have to scratch a certain itch once in a while, right?"

"Something like that. That's the relationship that Logan and I decided on after I saw how much he and Cammy cared for one another. I can see a bright future for those two in spite of the fact that one of our archrivals is one of Logan's very friendly ones, flirtatious even. Her name is Juri Han and she's out on the loose somewhere, wanted with a high bounty for her involvement with S.I.N."

"I remember her. She's the psycho with the weird eye, isn't she?"

"That's her. Juri is the only one of Logan's rivals whose company he actually enjoys. They have a tendency to flirt with each other, but Logan doesn't push it past that. Juri tries, though, even calling their fights 'dates'."

"It sounds like she's a sadomasochist or something," said Ibuki.

"Where did you learn that term?" Chun-Li asked.

"When you go to a school that has a popular girl who's sex-crazed, you tend to learn a few things."

"Ibuki, are you telling me that you're not one of the popular ones?"

"Not really. And I even take good care of my looks as well." Suddenly, there was an explosion behind them. Chun-Li looked out the window and saw another missile being fired. "What's happening? Should I drive like hell now?"

"Please do, but keep your eyes on the road, your seatbelt on, and your hands at the '10' and '2'," Chun-Li ordered, getting her phone out. "Logan, Ken, we have a problem."

* * *

"I know! I'm already on my way!" Logan said on the other end of the line. The Assassin ran to the source, which happened to be Rolento. "I figured you'd try something like this, Rolento."

"Well when you happen to be the leader of an army, you can't have any spots on your record! That little brat got me a ticket for speeding and driving an illegally customized car on the freeway!" exclaimed the squad leader. "But now, I have to deal with you as well!" Rolento didn't notice Ken on the other side, but Logan crossed his arms and smirked. Ken surprised Rolento by destroying the tank that was launching the missiles with a 'Guren Senpukyaku'. This made the wannabe soldier mad, but Logan volunteered to fight him as opposed to letting Ken take the ground.

Rolento started the fight by swinging down his baton, but Logan got on the ground and horse-kicked him back. Before Rolento hit the ground, the Assassin grabbed him and threw him to the other side. Having been ticked off enough, Rolento decided to counter with a tripwire that was under Logan's feet. He jumped to a helicopter where another ex-Mad Gear member was holding a cane. Rolento looped the rope through the hook and hung Logan upside-down. He finished it off by flicking his baton on the tripwire, causing Logan a little bit of pain and making him fall to the ground.

Logan jumped back on his feet and prepared for Rolento's next attack. It was the Squad Leader's folly that he attacked with his baton again, as the Assassin grabbed it and jabbed him under the arm. He followed it up by kicking the back of Rolento's leg and ended it by tossing him into the air, jumping off his head, and performing his trademark 'Skydive Assault', essentially humiliating Rolento with it again. During the whole ordeal, Ken had already dealt with Rolento's troops, knocking out the guy with the cane last and destroying the chopper. He made sure that they were off the chopper first, though. Nice number you did on him," he said, complementing Logan.

"Thanks. Now, Ibuki can pass her test no problem," the Assassin responded.

* * *

As Logan said, Ibuki passed her test. She was ecstatic about it, as was Chun-Li. It turned out that the Interpol Officer was her most patient instructor. The grades were honest, so that was a sign of Ibuki's hard work. The ninja girl happily hugged all of the others present since they helped her out, mainly Chun-Li, Logan, and Ken. "This is great! Thanks, you guys! I couldn't have done it without any of you!" she exclaimed excitedly. The group took pictures using Sarai's camera.

"These are going to look great in the scrapbook," Sarai said. "You've earned it, Ibuki."

"I'll say she did," Logan said. "It's been a long time coming from what I hear."

"You better believe it. Shakes are on me, guys. Sarai, Don-Chan, care to come with?" Ibuki asked her friends. Sarai and Don-Chan nodded. Ken, naturally, was with Eliza and Mel while Logan got a ride with Chun-Li. It was just the beginning of some more of Ibuki's adventures to come. The others were glad they could help out, though.

CHAPTER 19 END

* * *

**Okay, guys, this took a while to write, mainly because I've also been working on 'The World Warrior Tournament' and 'Chronomancer's Games'. Any time I have the words 'Ibuki Chronicles' in the chapter, it'll focus on the adventures of Ibuki, Makoto, Sakura, and Elena (this chapter being an obvious exception). Naturally, there will be OCs in the chapter as well, mainly the ones that have been featured already (Logan, Nate, Cloak, Sharel, Kiryo, and Shannon). Only on extremely rare occasions will a DC character actually be featured in an 'Ibuki Chronicles' chapter.**


	20. Riverside Party and a New Threat!

**Okay, guys, after remembering that a lot of anime have a beach/pool party episode, I decided to make this chapter a river party one. It'll be the first one since Chapter 6 to feature Dick Grayson and the first to feature Makoto, Sakura, and Elena, as well as Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and Halle Berry's character Patience Phillips (Catwoman). Selina Kyle will also have the mantle, but Patience, for those who haven't seen the movie, is a different character overall. This is also the first chapter where I have all the OC heroes in the same chapter (Logan, Cloak, Nate, Sharel, Kiryo, and Shannon).**

* * *

**Riverside Party and a New Threat!**

Gotham's meteorologists were reporting record highs. Many people wanted to go to the nearest pool, but there was also the issue that people had to work. Unfortunately, this included Bruce Wayne, meaning that Tim, Damian, Harper, and Shannon (whose family spends the weekends with them) were sitting around bored. Isaac wasn't faring any better, as shown with him lying down near the air conditioner. Since Sarah's boss called her in to work for an employee who was having a baby, Alfred agreed to watch the kids. Since Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, was there as well and was the oldest among them, the old butler had a little help.

Barbara was more heartbroken than bored, though, something that Alfred took notice of. He went to another room where no one was around and he made a phone call as he was dusting. _"Hello? What is it, Alfred?"_ Bruce asked.

"Master Bruce, I'm afraid that we have a serious case of boredom and an equally serious case of heartbreak," said the butler.

"_It's a good thing we're not in a conference, Alfred. I think I know who's got the heartbreak, but I'd like to know the boredom levels of the kids."_

"Yes, of course, sir. Well, Young Master Isaac is passed out at the air conditioner; Miss Shannon and Miss Harper aren't even doing their usual hobbies…"

"_And what about Tim and Damian?"_

"Masters Tim and Damian are even too bored to argue with each other or attack me. As for Miss Barbara…"

"_She's still heartbroken over Dick's supposed 'death'. Tim and Jason don't know either."_

"Master Bruce, might I recommend a trip to the Mississippi River in St. Louis? It has been a while since Miss Harper and Master Tim have been there and Master Damian, Miss Shannon, and Young Master Isaac will be able to meet Logan Washburn and his friends."

"_That sounds like a good idea, Alfred. It'll do Barbara some good as well. Sarah would have a fit if both of her kids went, though, so since Isaac's the youngest, he doesn't go."_

"Yes, sir, I understand. I'll let the kids know right away." With that, Alfred and Bruce hung up. The former went back to where the others were at and saw that Tim and Damian weren't present. The two of them tried to sneak up on him, but Alfred shook the feather duster and got them coughing before pinning the both of them down, getting the attention of the girls. "Oh, so now you try a sneak attack? Sorry, Masters Tim and Damian, but I'm afraid that it won't work," he said to both Robins.

"I told you we should've tried the rafters," said Tim, getting a glare from Damian.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Damian responded.

"Now, if you're done fooling around, I have a proposition for you. This cannot apply for Young Master Isaac as Miss Sarah will not allow it. Why don't you all head to St. Louis to meet Logan Washburn. After all, Miss Harper and Master Tim haven't seen him since helping him deal with Captain Clown and the Joker. It could do everyone a deal of good, especially you, Miss Barbara."

"But Mister Wayne will be extremely short-staffed," said Shannon. "He'll need aspirin since Jason would be the only one around, besides you and the Commissioner, of course."

"Oh trust me, Master Todd will be more than enough to help Master Bruce if he could restrain him." The kids eventually agreed and went to get ready meet up with Logan to relax while Alfred got the Zeta Beam ready. This was going to be one adventure none of them would forget.

* * *

At Coast City, Nate and Sharel decided to head to the community pool. They were meeting up with Billy, Mary, and Freddie as well. Booster Gold wanted to go, but he was busy helping the Justice League find out more on Luthor's plot. Besides, he was still recovering from the double kick that Logan dealt him before Kiryo first introduced himself to his ancestor. When he got there, there was a certain red-haired individual lying on a beach chair with a black fox under him. Over time, Nate had come to recognize Cloak's identity as Todd Platinum, the individual in the chair. "Hey, Todd!" exclaimed the Silver Lantern, getting Cloak's attention.

"Oh hey, Nate," Todd greeted back before noticing the blonde behind his friend. "Is that that 'Sharel' woman I've been hearing about?"

"It's nice to meet you," Sharel greeted, extending her hand. Todd shook it and took notice of her swimsuit. It was a sky blue one-piece that did little to nothing to hide her cleavage and naval due to the v-pattern in the front. Both sides were connected with black strings on the v-pattern in an x-pattern in the front. The only thing revealed in the back was her buttocks. Naturally, her legs, arms, hands, feet, and of course, her neck and head were revealed as well. The swimsuit caused every guy to have a shade of red somewhere on their face, whether it was a mad blush, a nosebleed, or a sharp handprint from their girlfriend slapping them.

Billy and Freddie weren't oblivious to this and neither was Mary, who shoved both of their heads underwater. "Can't you guys knock it off?" Mary asked. She was wearing a red-and-gold one-piece in the usual style with the gold being a lightning bolt pattern. Billy wore a pair of red swimming trunks with a similar lightning bolt pattern while Freddie wore a blue version of Billy's. Nate wore a white T-shirt and white swim trunks while Todd had on a pair of black swim trunks and a blue shirt. "I swear, boys will be boys…" Mary finished.

"Oh just relax, Mary," Sharel said. "They're just having fun."

"She's right, you know," said a voice. They looked and saw a woman with light tan skin lying on the chair. She had her brown hair in a bob cut, but unlike Shannon, she had no highlights. Like Sharel, she was a beauty, wearing a black version of what Sharel had on, but with white strings as opposed to black. "Everyone could use a little break and cut loose. This includes the boys." Nate grew a little hot under the collar, but Todd couldn't help noticing that this woman seemed familiar to him.

"And you are?" the Symbiote hero asked.

"My name is Patience Phillips. I'm not from around here, but I happen to be passing through. And what about you? What's your story?"

"I'm Todd Platinum. I'm just here to cool off. This is Nathaniel Dement and his friend Sharel. The kids here are Billy Batson, Mary Batson, and Freddie Freeman."

"Well I hope to talk to you again, Platinum. You're on your guard, but that's what makes it fun." Patience got out of her chair and went over to the diving board while Todd kept a suspicious eye on her.

"Dude, I think she likes you," said Nate.

"Right…Excuse me while I make a phone call."

* * *

In St. Louis, Logan and Cammy had just arrived at the Mississippi River along with Chun-Li. Soifon and Yoruichi were along as well. Cammy wore a two-piece green bikini while Chun-Li wore one as blue as her qipao. Both of them even had their hair freed from their usual styles. Soifon wore a modest lavender one-piece swimsuit, but Yoruichi wasn't as modest; the 'Flash Goddess' wore an orange bikini. Logan, on the other hand, wore a white T-shirt and a pair of blue and white swimming shorts. They were joined by Kiryo, who wore a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of black swim shorts. "So I take it that's Kiryo?" Yoruichi asked, getting a nod from Soifon. The Squad 2 Captain looked back at Chun-Li and Cammy and was a bit envious of them, mainly Cammy due to Logan.

Logan's cell phone went off, so the Assassin looked and saw that it was Todd. "Hey, Todd, what's up?" he asked after answering the phone.

"_Not much,"_ Todd said from the other end of the line. "_I need some information on a woman named 'Patience Phillips'. Something about her is irritating me and I don't know what it is."_

"Alright, I'll check." Logan turned on the speakerphone as he did his research on Patience. "Say 'hi' to Cammy, Yoruichi, and Soifon, by the way. They can hear you." Logan said that since Todd didn't know about Kiryo or Chun-Li.

"_I hate speakerphone."_

"Sorry. I don't have any other choice. Now let's see…Patience Phillips…There's not much in her profile, but she was an artist in her hometown. After witnessing something corrupt going on at the company she worked for, she was killed. If you really did meet her in the flesh, then that means that she must've been resurrected somehow."

"_I see…Thanks for the heads-up, Logan. I'm at the pool with Nate, Billy, and Billy's friends. I had just met Sharel as well."_

"Well I'm at the river with Cammy, our friend and teammate Chun-Li, Soifon, Yoruichi, and a friend of ours that hitched a ride with that idiot Booster Gold. I also got a call telling me that we're going to be joined by some others as well. Please don't tell Nate that."

"_Got it,"_ Todd said. _"Just relax and enjoy yourselves. I'll make sure he doesn't know."_

"Thanks, Todd," Logan said before hanging up. He joined the others just as two SUVs and a Jeep pulled up. In one of the SUVs was Ibuki, who wore a black two-piece bikini, short shorts, and a thin, white button-up shirt this time around. She came out of the driver's side while Makoto, Elena, and Sakura climbed out as well. Makoto wore a one-piece swimsuit like Soifon, but it was red. She also had on her gi pants considering that, like Ryu, she wouldn't stop training. Elena wore a black bikini as opposed to her usual white one along with a thin, red button-up shirt. As for Sakura, she wore a pair of denim shorts and an open jacket, revealing her floral-patterned bikini top.

From the next SUV came the Masters family, consisting of Ken, Eliza, and little Mel. Ken had on his V-neck training shirt and a pair of white swimming shorts. Eliza wore a blue one-piece with a white sun skirt on the waist. They put Mel in a blue onesie with beach toys on the front. From the Jeep came Guile and his wife Julia. As usual, Guile had his military clothes on, making Logan and the others shake their heads since he never takes a break. Julia was a beautiful blonde woman like Eliza, even wearing a red version of what her sister wore. "Hey, guys! Nice seeing you here!" the Assassin greeted.

"Yeah, well two things happened that we didn't count on," said Eliza. "The first is that mine and Ken's niece Amy visited her pen pal in India for her vacation. It's a good thing that Guile and Ken know the boy's father, who happens to be the Village Shaman." Logan and the others (aside from Kiryo and the girls) knew that she was talking about Dhalsim.

"The other thing that wasn't taken into consideration was the fact that Guile doesn't like to wear anything non-military," Julia added.

"Yeah, he's a workaholic," Logan quipped. "Then again, that's the pot calling the kettle black. Chun-Li, Cammy, Soifon, and I are all workaholics."

"At least you know how to relax once in a while, Logan," said Makoto, giving her 'big brother' a hug. "It's been a while."

"You got that right, Sis. We needed this. By the way, what are you guys doing here?"

"The elders at the ninja village gave me and three friends the opportunity to relax for a week," Ibuki explained. "So I asked Sakura, Elena, and Makoto and asked if they wanted to go see St. Louis and they said yes."

"Well, it's good to have you. Guys, I'd like you to meet my Soul Reaper ex-girlfriend Shaolin Feng, her mentor Yoruichi Shihoin, and a new friend of ours named Kiryo Harufune," said Logan, who was hiding the fact that Kiryo was his and Cammy's descendent. Suddenly, a light from a Zeta transportation beam was seen. "And that must mean that everyone's here." They looked and saw the Bat crew in their civilian identities, minus Bruce, Sarah, and Alfred of course. Logan immediately recognized Harper, who wore a black one-piece and her hair combed down, and Tim, who only wore a pair of black swim shorts and a red shirt. He figured that the redheaded girl in the white bikini was Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, and the shorter boy in the red shorts was the recently-resurrected Damian Wayne, AKA Robin. Alfred, Harper, Tim, and Bruce never told him about Shannon, who had on a black vest, a pair of denim shorts, and a red bikini underneath.

* * *

They got the introductions out of the way and everything went smoothly from there. Ken and Logan decided to give a demonstration of their abilities while Damian and Shannon were looking in anticipation, Guile was fishing, and Chun-Li, Cammy, Eliza, and Julia were smiling, knowing what would happen next. There was also a two-on-two volleyball match between the team of Ibuki and Sakura and the team of Elena and Makoto with Tim and Harper as the referees. Barbara was still depressed over Dick's 'death'.

Ken reeled his arms back and charged up his and Ryu's signature 'Hadoken' while Logan prepped up a 'Chidori Blast'. They fired their respective blasts at high speeds, getting Damian and Shannon excited since the collision caused a geyser from the colliding chi. It also splashed Guile, getting him ticked off. Kiryo was also amazed at the amount of power that both his ancestor and Ken put behind the attacks. "Okay, that does it!" Guile exclaimed. Since his boots were waterproof, he stepped into the water and reeled his own arms back. "Sonic Boom!" he shouted, firing his 'Sonic Boom' with both arms as usual. Ken didn't have time to counter, so he dodged. Logan held back his friend's projectile with his bare hands before crouching a little and reeling back his right arm.

"Shoryuken!" he shouted, sending the 'Sonic Boom' into the sky, much to the shock of the others.

"Now where did you learn to do that?" asked Ken.

"I learned how from my training with Ryu at Kisuke Urahara's shop. It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt like Hell, though," Logan said, showing the burn marks on his hands. "That's the result of the friction from Guile's 'Sonic Boom'. I'd probably get the same result if I did that against Charlie Nash's."

"That…was…cool!" Damian and Shannon exclaimed, getting their attention before Logan shook his head and smiled. He noted that when Damian and Shannon were together, they were like little kids.

The Assassin looked up and saw that Kiryo was still sitting on a branch. "Hey, Kiryo! Jump on in! The water's fine!" he exclaimed as he put Aloe Vera juice on his burns.

"I'm fine! Thanks anyway!" Kiryo exclaimed back.

"Oh come on, man! What, are you scared of having fun?"

"N-Not exactly! I-I just don't feel like jumping in! That's all!" Logan and Cammy suspected that he was trying to hide something, but Soifon beat them to the punch.

"Kiryo," she said, addressing her future adoptive nephew.

"Y-Yes, Auntie Soifon?"

"Are you afraid of the water?" she asked. From the look on Kiryo's face, Soifon knew that she caught the Future-era Assassin red-handed. "I don't see what you have to be afraid of. If you're anything like Logan, you must know how to swim."

"…That's the problem."

"He doesn't know how to swim?" Ibuki asked. "So much for flirting with him…"

"This is embarrassing," Logan said, pinching his nose at Ibuki's remark. "Don't worry, Kiryo. Cammy, Soifon, and I will teach you how to swim…That is, if Cammy and Soifon are willing to put up with one another."

"Putting up with Cammy is the least of my concerns on this trip, Logan. It's dealing with you and avoiding having my neck wrung by Chun-Li that I'm worried about."

"It's a pleasure working with you too, Captain." Soifon's only response was flashing the 'finger' at her ex. "And it's a little late for that, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically, getting Chun-Li, Ken, and Yoruichi to burst out laughing.

"While the bantering between you two is humorous, I'm starting to get worried, Logan!" Cammy said. Logan knew that Cammy was joking, so he smiled back in a flirting manner, getting the Delta Red soldier to respond in kind. They saw a high-speed chase going down, interrupting their fun for a little bit. Logan would've been getting back to it if it weren't for the fact that he saw who was doing the chasing.

"I'll be right back, guys. Stay right here," he said, confusing the others as he left.

* * *

Back at Coast City, Todd couldn't shake his suspicions about Patience. Her flirty attitude was getting under his skin as well. Because of their first interaction, Billy and his friends couldn't help teasing him. Nate would usually help in reeling them in before Todd got too embarrassed. Right now, he was swimming a few laps to try and get her off his mind. Sadly, it wasn't working. _'Dammit! Why do I keep thinking about her?'_ he thought. Unfortunately, his Symbiote decided to speak up.

"**You could have a crush on her, you know,"** it said. **"You can't rule out that possibility."**

'_Oh shut up! You know I'm loyal to Crystal!'_

"**I'm just messing with you, Todd. It's pretty clear that you're suspicious, but she seems to hold an interest in you. If we can't find Crystal and Brad here, maybe you could give this 'Patience Phillips' a chance."**

Before Todd could respond, he was brought out of his conversation with the Symbiote thanks to Nate getting his attention. "Todd, look out!" the Silver Lantern exclaimed. Todd narrowly dodged Patience, who dove in from the diving board again.

"Hey, look before you dive, sister!" Todd exclaimed as soon as Patience emerged from the water.

"I did," she responded with a smirk. Todd just shook his head as the woman went back to swimming.

"That Patience woman looks like she's got a sort of affection for Todd," Sharel said.

"Nah, I think she just likes to see his skin crawl," said Nate. "He gets pretty agitated with her, so I guess it's funny to her. It isn't that funny to me, though."

"I can tell. I wonder how Kiryo's doing…" The statement made Nate a little bit jealous of Logan's descendant, especially since, in their first and only meeting, Sharel teased him a little bit about his wild blushing.

"Man, that woman might just be the death of me yet," said Todd, interrupting their conversation as he got out of the pool and dried off.

"What, you have girl problems or something?" Nate asked, getting a harsh glare from Todd. The Silver Lantern shut up immediately, knowing what Todd can do. Todd saw that Patience was getting out of the pool and heading to the locker room, so he decided to head her off in the hallway. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'll be right back. I just have to check something out." He got to the hallway and waited for her to come out. Once she did, she was wearing a black T-shirt with a cat's face on it and a pair of denim shorts. "Hold it right there!" he exclaimed, cornering her on the wall. She let out a flirty smirk in response.

"Well, what do you know? I never knew you were into that kind of risk," she said. "So tell me, do you get all the girls this way? Or am I the only one you did this on?"

"I just want to know something."

"What's that?"

"Why are you interested in just me?"

"Because I like to have fun…and you look like a lot of fun." She slipped under him and went outside of the pool. "Oh, and one more thing for you to remember: If you corner a cat, you get scratched. I don't know if you like that or not, but if you do, then by all means, keep it up."

Todd stepped out of the hallway more flustered than he was earlier. He had a good look at Billy, who was looking back. "Billy, get out of the pool, dry off, find a place to hide, and say the magic word. You and I are going on a stakeout," he said.

"What about us?" Nate asked.

"You and Sharel stay here. You'll stick out like a street lamp in a dark alley."

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Logan had caught up to the car chase and found the driver of the car doing the chasing was his old friend Dick Grayson. He knew that he was here for a reason. He just didn't know what it was and why he was chasing someone in a getaway car. The St. Louis Den-Master decided to help out. He jumped down and landed in the passenger seat of the getaway car. "Hey, there," he said with a smirk. "Nice day for a drive, isn't it?" The crook saw that Logan had pulled out one of his revolvers and had it aimed for his head. The crook got the message and pulled over.

He slowly stepped out of the car with his hands up while Logan got out of the passenger side, revolver still aimed at the crook, as Dick got out of his car and walked over to the crook. "Do you mind telling me why you were going as fast as you were?" asked the former Robin.

"I-I was trying to get to some place on time! T-The boss asked me to make a delivery at some point here in the city! I-I don't know what it means!" the crook said. Logan checked the trunk and saw that there was some strange cargo in it, all in briefcases.

"It's all in here, 37, just like he said," said the Assassin.

"We'll be confiscating your cargo now, courtesy of Spyral. Have a good day." With that, Dick knocked the crook out and placed him in an alleyway while Logan unloaded the trunk and put the briefcases in Dick's car. "Well, that's that. Thanks for the help, Logan."

"No problem, Dick, but we still have one more thing to do." Logan pulled out a match and lit it, getting Dick to put two-and-two together. Logan opened up the gas tank and dropped the match inside of it. The car exploded and burned to a crisp.

"Did you get the license and registration?"

"He didn't have them on him. I checked." They got in Dick's car, but Logan told him to go ahead and drive to the river. Grayson knew exactly why once Logan mentioned that all of the Bat family was there except for Bruce, Alfred, Lucius, and Commissioner Gordon.

* * *

"You mean to tell me that you guys knew Dick was still alive?!" Barbara asked angrily, shouting towards Damian, Shannon, Harper, Logan, Cammy, Chun-Li, Guile, the Soul Reapers, and Dick. Ken, Eliza, and Julia all felt bad for them while Tim was as happy to see his 'big brother' again as Damian was. "Bruce said that you died, Dick! He lied to me! You lied to me! The only other one in the Bat Family who didn't know was Tim, wasn't it!?"

"Um, actually, Barbara, Jason doesn't know either," said Damian. It was at this point that Ibuki and her friends figured out who the Bat family was.

"Jason…Of course he doesn't know…" She then turned to the true source of her anger: Dick. "And you!" she exclaimed, getting the attention of Earth's former Nightwing. "I can't believe you agreed to help keep up that stupid lie, Dick! It's good to see you again, but you could have written! Who else knows?"

Logan decided to answer this one. "Chances are, the Martian Manhunter would've read Batman's mind, so he might've found out on his own. There's also Arsenal and Raven," he said, not knowing that Luthor and the gorillas knew as well. None of them knew that Deathstroke was also out of his coma.

"So Arsenal and Raven know as well?" Logan and Dick nodded. "Great."

"Let's just see what you two came across," said Guile. He opened up one of the brief cases and saw some important files. "That's odd. These files are unmarked. There's nothing telling us what organization they belong to." They each opened up a different briefcase and looked at each of the contents.

"This is really weird," said Dick. "We might be dealing with more than just some cyborgs developed by Luthor, guys."

"Dick, I'm afraid you're right," said Tim, holding up a piece of paper with more stats on it. "I don't know who this belongs to, but it's obvious that Lex isn't behind this."

"There's some more here," said Chun-Li. "Whoever this was going to is working on something called 'Project: Frankenstein'."

"Yeah, and from the looks of things, it's as scary as it sounds. They do a little patchwork on a subject that's dead or near-dead and put them under their control," Cammy said. The atmosphere didn't sit well with the teenagers, Julia, or Eliza, much less the crime-fighters and martial artists. It was especially sending chills down Ibuki's spine, so she decided to change the subject.

"C'mon, guys. Just put everything back in the briefcases and you can look it over later. I think we better roast some hot dogs to lighten the mood," she suggested.

"That's probably a good idea," said Logan. They did as she suggested and put everything back, placing the briefcases in Guile's jeep.

* * *

Back with Cloak, Billy had transformed into Shazam as he was told while Cloak and Pitch ran on the roofs. They had tracked Patience to a hotel room she was staying at during this time. Night came around and Cloak saw that Nate and Sharel went back to their cave. Shazam knew that Mary and Freddie went back to the orphanage as well, coming up with an excuse for Billy's absence. "So what exactly do you expect to find here?" Shazam quietly asked, getting shushed by his teammate. "If you wanted to snap a few naked pictures of her, you could've brought Freddie and Nate along as well."

"If I wanted to snap a few naked pictures, she would've let me in. Nate would cover his eyes," Cloak responded dryly. "I'm here to tail her and see what she does at night. I brought you along in case I needed backup or someone was trying to distract me." They looked at Patience's window again, seeing her come out dressed in a leather suit that showed off a bit of her skin on the sides of the top, in addition to her back. She even had a mask that had a cat-like appearance on them and leather gloves. "So Patience Phillips is Catwoman? Why isn't she in Gotham City?"

"Um, actually, there already is a Catwoman there," said Shazam. "Her name is Selina Kyle and I think she's got the hots for Batman."

"Either way, let's chase her. C'mon." Shazam nodded and followed suit, making sure not to be spotted. Cloak didn't think he had much to worry about since his Symbiote makes him near pitch black. She leapt from building to building, prompting her pursuers to follow. Shazam had a bit of trouble due to not being used to not flying. Patience eventually stopped at a warehouse with the heroes a building over. As Shazam was catching his breath and making a remark about stretching, some suspicious figures were unloading a truck that had just come in. The truck also had no labels on it.

Patience saw this as a perfect opportunity to attack the odd figures. She used her acrobatic ability to dodge the shots and knock their heads together. She did well, but underestimated them. They caught her quicker than she could react. One of the figures nodded at some others, giving them the signal to unlock a container. When it opened, a white, sentient ooze jumped out and took a humanoid shape, having spades for hand. It saw Patience and quickly coiled itself around her, including her neck. It was about to kill her with its spade-like hands when Shazam and Cloak decided to intervene.

They hardly saw them coming as Shazam used the Speed of Mercury to get to the ooze and shock it. He threw it off once it loosened itself off of the Catwoman. Patience's calm, cool, and collected personality was shoved aside, scared of this ooze that was about to fight Shazam. It saw Cloak and Pitch knocking out the agents, the latter in his panther state. The ooze jumped up on the truck to ambush Cloak after getting away from Shazam and Catwoman. It went for the ambush, but due to a warning from his Symbiote, Cloak reacted quickly, grabbing the white ooze and tossing it to the other end of the parking lot. "And just what the Hell are you?" he asked, getting beeps from the ooze. This told the Exonian that he was dealing with a sort of Bio-Android. Luckily, since he was a Technomancer, he could understand him. "I see. Your name's 'Twelve'. Not much of a name if you ask me."

Twelve jumped to attack Cloak again, but Pitch tackled him to the ground and slashed him with his claws. The Bio-Android tried to coil itself around the panther, but Cloak slammed him off and formed his Symbiote swords. He slashed at Twelve, but he just kept dodging. Twelve eventually formed himself into a ball and fell towards his opponents. Cloak responded by forming his swords into a bat and hitting the Android hard to the wall, knocking him out. Shazam grabbed the container, which had a vacuum function on it, and sucked Twelve up. "Just what was that thing?" he asked.

"He said his name was 'Twelve'. He's a Bio-Android. I don't know who created him or why he's here, though," Cloak answered.

"You could understand what he's saying, Platinum?" Catwoman asked, surprising the other two heroes.

"I'm a technomancer, so yeah. Now how'd you know who I am?"

"I'm a little fond of you, you know. I heard your voice, so I know who you are." She smoothly ran her fingers across his chest. "If I happen to come across you again, we can help one another again." With after that, she left, leaving behind a bewildered Cloak. Shazam tried to restrain himself from poking fun at him, knowing that he would kill him if he tried.

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Logan and the others were sitting around a bonfire. While Cloak and Shazam were on their stakeout, Kiryo had become a slightly better swimmer. Logan and Cammy knew that it'd take time before he was at Logan's level, though. During this time, while Ibuki's unrequited crush on Logan was obvious, Elena had also grown fonder of him than she ever had been. She even volunteered to help him combat LexCorp, despite the dangers. Makoto had no need to tell them about her volunteering since Logan knew already. They also knew that Ibuki's village would be happy to assist them as well. The same went with Sakura, but it was mainly in hopes of seeing Ryu again.

Logan got a text message from Todd and it disturbed him. "Apparently, Cloak, Shazam, and Patience fought a Bio-Android of sorts. I don't think he's made by LexCorp, but he could be associated with the guys who are working on 'Project: Frankenstein'."

"That's a possibility," said Guile. "We just have to be extra careful from now on."

"Yeah, I know. I think we should let the League know of our discovery. We'll obviously leave Dick out of the details, but Raven will know." Dick and the others nodded as well. "In the meantime, Harper, I need you and Tim to keep working on that antivirus program for Luthor's robots. Take some time to get some fresh air in the process. It'll be good for you."

"You got it, Logan," said Harper. "But what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to research 'Project: Frankenstein' and its creators. Maybe Twelve might have a sort of connection with them."

"That's probably good, Logan," said Elena. "If you need help, try communicating through nature like Thunder Hawk taught you to and I'll come to you."

"Let us know too, Logan-san," said Sakura, indicating herself, Ken, and Makoto.

"Thanks, guys. I know I can count on all of you, even if Guile and Ken have to get away from their wives to help out," Logan said, getting a laugh out of everyone except the said two blondes.

"I know I won't be much help on my end. Spyral keeps me pretty busy," said Dick. "But I'll be able to help when I'm in town." Logan nodded, happy to have his best friend on board. He also knew that he and the League had the Soul Society's back as well, so he didn't ask Soifon or Yoruichi.

This was going to be a long battle indeed.

* * *

Back at the charred car where Logan and Dick picked up the briefcases, there were several more of the strange figures. One of them was distinguished because he was the only one without a hat, displaying his white hair and green gem in his forehead. "Did you find anything yet?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir!" said one of the figures. "The only trace we found was the driver! He's coming to!"

"Who did this?" the boss asked the driver as he regained his consciousness.

"S-Spyral did this! I-I think the agent also had the St. Louis Den-Master with him as well!"

"Thank you. That's all I needed to know." With that, the squad leader snapped the driver's neck. He called his headquarters afterwards. "We have a problem."

CHAPTER 20 END

* * *

**Okay, so that one turned out alright. At least I finally used a **_**Street Fighter III**_** character in one of my stories. I've never played the **_**Street Fighter III**_** games, so there are some characters, such as Twelve, Alex, Q, Remy, and Sean, that I'm unfamiliar with. Due to being on **_**Ultra Street Fighter IV**_**, the only characters I'm familiar with from that series are Dudley, Makoto, Ibuki, Yun, Yang, and Elena. Hugo made his debut along with Poison back in **_**Final Fight**_**.**

**So now, Logan and his friends have another threat besides LexCorp to deal with. But who is this organization? Do they have a link to the Bio-Android Twelve? And what is 'Project: Frankenstein'? Stay tuned to find out.**


	21. Terror Amplified! The Night of True Fear

**Alright, folks, it's that time of year, which means Halloween specials. Since it's taking me a while to update lately, I'll just do two this time, maybe three if I have enough time. I haven't done one in two years, so I might be a little rusty with this. I didn't do one last year because I was working on a Christmas special for Super Smash Bros. using the 3DS/Wii U roster (minus Pac-Man and the DLC characters, of course) that took me two months to write because I wanted it to be just right.**

**This one is a Halloween chapter focusing on Logan, Nate, Sharel, and Cloak. The reason I'm doing this as a chapter instead of a separate one-shot is because they did that with **_**The Batman**_**, where the antagonist was supposedly Solomon Grundy, but it turned out to be Clayface. I just might do that for Christmas as well. I'm bringing the newest Green Lantern in this as one of the tag partners along with an unlikely ally. As per most of the chapters, I have Logan grouped up with Cammy and Kiryo as well. As for the villain, it's Gotham City's 'Master of Fear' himself. The other one is a **_**Digimon Tamers**_** one-shot titled 'Tamers' Halloween'. Oh, and before I forget, for those of you who are **_**Street Fighter III**_** fans, I'll include other favorites like Sean, Alex, and Ryu in the future.**

* * *

**Terror Amplified! The Night of True Fear!**

All around the world, a cold chill was blowing in the wind. There were leaves blowing in every city. The cities were, naturally, decorated in orange and black, signifying the arrival of Halloween. The porches had Jack-o-Lanterns on them while the mailboxes were covered in vines of fake leaves. Even the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, which had been one of the many structures rebuilt immediately after Yukon McSleez's attack was foiled by Logan with the help of Ichigo Kurosaki, had orange lights coming from the top. There were also orange and black lights in the downtown area and the neighborhoods. The kids were even dressed as ghouls, goblins, superheroes, cowboys and cowgirls, etc.

As usual for a perfect evening, something had to ruin it. In this case, it was a fat man on a motorcycle. No, this wasn't Rufus, but someone else. He was a dark-skinned man wearing British punk clothes that looked just a little small for him. He had on black jeans, a black leather vest, and combat boots. He even had a dyed blonde Mohawk. He also had a thick beard pointing both the left and the right of his face, red earrings, a heart tattoo on the left side of his head, and chains on his wrists. He also had quite a beer belly on him. Right now, he was swinging his chain around wreaking everything.

The big man heard a chain wrap around the back of his seat, so he looked back and saw Logan pulling backwards on the bike. The criminal decided to make things a little more difficult for him by stepping on the gas. Logan's muscles were being pulled, but he retaliated by sending 'Chidori' through the chain, shocking the criminal off his bike. "Hey! You're going to pay for that!" the felon shouted before getting knocked down from behind. Logan looked and saw Cammy and Kiryo, both of them having kicked the nuisance in the back of his head.

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I was about to get a pulled muscle here."

"Well you don't have to worry about that," said Cammy. Kiryo nodded as well. They heard some grunting from the goon as he got up. "Oh great. Why can't Birdie just stay down?"

"All three of you are going to pay now!" shouted the felon, now known as Birdie.

"I wonder how many times we heard that one before," Logan remarked before smirking at his girlfriend and their descendant. It was clear that Birdie was enraged, as he attacked the trio. Logan, Cammy, and Kiryo dodged him and made him hit a streetlamp. The present-day Assassin then grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels from Birdie's bike and struck a match. "Oh man. I hate to waste a good bottle of whiskey." Cammy stuck a cloth in the bottle before Logan stuck the bottle in Birdie's back pocket and lit the cloth on fire.

Birdie began to smell the smoke, so he knew that the cloth was on fire and it was in the whiskey. He comically ran towards the Mississippi River and dove in. When he emerged, the cops had arrived and his three opponents were gone. "Oh, don't think you're off the hook just yet," he said, angry and embarrassed at his loss.

* * *

Logan, Cammy, and Kiryo continued walking downtown, getting a laugh out of what happened to Birdie. Never in her life did Cammy think that the Briton was stupid enough to fall for that old trick. "Now that's a prank that the Joker's going to have to one-up!" Logan exclaimed.

"Yeah, you got that right! Did you see the look on Birdie's face? It was priceless!" added Cammy. Kiryo smiled at his ancestors as they enjoyed themselves. He saw a man approach them wearing a black suit, striped tie, and thick-framed glasses. "Um, can we help you?" Cammy asked.

"I just wanted to say thank you for stopping that monster. He would've ruined Halloween for sure," the man said, shaking Logan's hand.

"Uh, thanks, but we were just doing what we usually do. It's nothing new to us," said the Assassin.

"I know, but I still wish to thank you." With that, the man left, leaving Logan and Cammy baffled and Kiryo suspicious.

"Did that guy seem a little…odd…to you guys?" asked the future Assassin.

"Yeah, but keep in mind, Kiryo, that the night time has a tendency to bring out the oddballs," Cammy said. This didn't shake Kiryo's suspicions, though.

* * *

In Coast City, Nate and Sharel were getting ready to go to the new orphanage since it was hosting a Halloween party there. Nate couldn't believe how little time it took to build another one. Of course, Queen Industries was more than happy to help since Oliver Queen just so happened to be in town at the time. Naturally, the Silver Lantern knew that it was because Green Arrow was with Logan to bring back Mary Batson after the Assassin had to endure a headache from both the Riddler's puzzles and Two-Face's hate-filled rants against vigilantes.

Nate was dressed in a ghost costume, complete with a white suit, white make-up, and white handcuffs. He even made his hair white for the occasion. Luckily, the chains weren't connected to each other, so his movement wasn't restricted. "I knew I'd pick the right time to where this. I even feel scary," he said.

"Well, to be honest, Nathaniel, you don't look that scary no matter what costume you pick," Sharel teased. Nate turned around to retaliate, but stopped dead in his tracks. Sharel had on a pirate costume that would've done nothing to hide her cleavage had she not wore a tight-fitting undershirt underneath the outfit. The costume consisted of a silk shirt with puffy sleeves, a frilly skirt, and a corset. Sharel completed the outfit with thigh-high leather boots and a pirate's hat with the skull-and-crossbones on it. "For example, ghosts don't have nosebleeds. Now if you don't mind, why don't we go to the orphanage?"

"O-O-Okay," Nate said, embarrassed. Sharel smiled, put her hand on his shoulder, and teleported them to the orphanage where Billy and the others were at. They had no idea that Mr. Grey got a certain failed Power Battery to act up.

* * *

When they got there, everyone was having a good time. Billy was dressed as Superman, Freddie as Green Arrow (because someone beat him to dressing up as Batman), and Mary was dressed as Wonder Woman. The kids even convinced Todd, who was still in town even after the Patience issue and the fight against Twelve, to blend in. He wore an outfit reminiscent of the Grim Reaper, consisting of a tattered cloak, black hakama pants, and a grey shirt. To complete his outfit, Todd even had a plastic scythe on him, but in order to not scare the kids, he chose not to wear a skull mask. "Boy, and I thought I was scary," Nate commented.

"I can pull off scary. You can't," said Todd, using an intimidating tone. "The lady who runs this orphanage said I can't be in the costume contest."

"Why did she say that?" Sharel asked.

"I said that because he would have an unfair advantage," said the headmistress of the orphanage. "The kids would automatically vote him the winner, but we had to give others a chance. Todd was originally here to help keep the kids in line, but they convinced him to dress up anyway."

"Oh, so that's why."

"Yeah," said Todd. "I don't even know why we have to dress in these costumes. They never had something like this on my world."

"I've done plenty of research on the different Earths and found Halloween to be one of the most exciting things ever. Everyone dresses up in a costume, the kids get candy, and the adults give candy. The downfall is that the day plays host to a bunch of weirdoes every year."

"Sharel's right. Last year, while I was still in my dimension, three stoners came to my door with a sack and no costume," Nate said, taking care not to let the word 'stoners' be heard by the kids.

"That's bad," said Todd. Nate nodded in agreement while Billy and his friends were wondering what they were talking about.

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Logan, Cammy, and Kiryo decided to turn in for the night, seeing as how they had to prepare for Halloween tomorrow. As usual, Kiryo got the other bedroom while Logan slept with Cammy. Logan was in a pair of red flannel pajama pants while Cammy had on a light blue nightgown which, no matter how many times she's worn it, always made Logan think she looked very attractive in. This was because it made her even more beautiful, completing the ensemble with her hair let loose to frame her face and blue eyes. However, despite the fact that they were still in love even after the tournament, they had to restrain themselves on account of having Kiryo as their guest.

Just as the two of them were about to go to sleep, Logan had received a text message. Checking it, he groaned, seeing that it was from Nate. _"Wish you were here! The party's great!" _the text read. There was also an attachment on the message. It was a pic of Nate, Sharel, Billy, Mary, Freddie, and what he assumed to be Todd, the last of which had his arms crossed with a disgruntled look on his face. _'Great. They attend a costume party while we send Birdie to his cage and deal with a whack-job in glasses. I'll call him in the morning,'_ Logan thought. About an hour after they went to sleep, Logan began to have a weird dream.

* * *

_(Logan's Dream...)_

_Logan found himself at a green field with a white sky, wearing his autumn street fighting gear (blue jeans, forest green hooded shirt, black shoes, and black sports wrap around his wrists). He looked around and saw nothing but the fields, feeling at peace at the moment. With all that was going on with Luthor, he found this peaceful state to be an odd sensation, but one that he'd welcome anytime. He saw a tree that was familiar to him: It was the place where he saw Decapre the third time, where she forced her first kiss on him. Even outside of a dream, he always kept her memory in a special place in his heart. He walked over to the tree and saw Cammy and Decapre sitting against it laughing with each other. Both blondes were in their usual uniforms, minus Decapre's mask, thus revealing her face without the burn. "Hi, Logan!" Cammy greeted with a loving smile._

_Decapre didn't say anything at the moment, just smiling, getting up, and hugging him. "It is good to see you again, Logan. I missed you," the Russian Doll said after a while._

"_I missed you too, Decapre," said Logan, hugging his friend back. The two of them just stood there with Cammy joining in afterwards. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when Decapre turned black and disappeared in bits of the villainous purple aura known as 'Psycho Power', leaving the other two in shock and tears. Logan looked up and saw the sky turn from white to ominously dark. The clouds formed into the evil shape of Bison, the thunder resembling his equally evil laugh. The Bison illusion formed a fist with 'Psycho Power'. "Bison…No…" The cloudy 'fist' came down and struck Cammy and Logan, but that's where the dream ended._

* * *

_(After the Dream…)_

Logan shot awake and was covered in a cold sweat. He saw that Cammy was still sleeping soundly, so he started to get up to check on their descendant. He felt an additional weight on the bed and saw his cat Oreo, concerned about his human buddy. Logan scratched him behind the ear and under the chin before getting up to see about Kiryo. Oreo, in the meantime, snuggled up to Cammy and went to sleep, getting Logan to smile.

He went to Kiryo's room and saw him sound asleep as well. This confirmed that he was the only one who had a nightmare, one that was apparently more than enough to concern the cat. He went to the computer to call the Bat Cave to see if he could talk to someone about it. He figured Dick was on a mission, so he was out. He called, and to his luck, Bluebird answered it. _"Hey, Logan,"_ she greeted. _"You don't look so good. What's wrong?"_

"I just had a bad dream. I checked on Cammy and Kiryo and found them to still be asleep," he explained. "The only other one who was awake was Oreo."

"_That's your cat, isn't it?"_ Logan nodded. _"It sounds like I better keep Selina Kyle away from you."_ She saw that Logan was holding a previously unseen object in his hand while shooting her a tired glare. _"Sorry. I had to lighten the mood somehow. So what happened?"_

"In my dream or what we did before we went to bed?"

"_Start from what you did before turning in."_ Logan took a deep breath and told Bluebird everything that happened, including the dream. Naturally, he had to explain who Bison and Decapre were and that the object, which turned out to be a metallic infrared domino mask, belonged to the latter. He even explained the weirdest part, which happened to be the weirdo from earlier. After the description, he saw that Bluebird had a cautious look on her face. _"Logan, I'm afraid you just ran into Prof. Jonathan Crane."_

"Who's Jonathan Crane?" he asked.

"_He was a psychologist who graduated from Gotham University. He took his work to the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, where he was well-known among the staff for his psychiatrics. However, he focused on one particular aspect of the human mind and that was the emotion of fear. He even developed this special toxin that amplifies the adrenaline of the subject, causing their fears to be amplified as well, pretty much to the point of paranoia."_

"Did he get caught and fired from his job?"

"_Yes. Batman caught and arrested him, though it took him a bit due to the fear toxin being used on him. Since then, Crane's turned from Psychology to Villainy to take revenge on Batman. He even took on one of the scariest names in Gotham,"_ explained Bluebird.

"What name is that?"

"_Scarecrow. He even keeps syringes on his wrists with that stuff in it. There are two ways to beat him. One is to have his equipment disabled and removed from him, or inject him with his own toxin. However, when one has to go through their worst nightmare, that's easier said than done."_

"I hope there's a cure."

"_There is. I'll send you the recipe so you'll know what to do. A little heads-up: I know you hate them, but you'll need a needle."_ Logan shuddered at the thought before thanking Bluebird. After he got the recipe, he noted that he'd have to go to the store since there were a few ingredients missing.

* * *

The next morning, Cammy woke up to Oreo using her arm as his pillow. She saw that Logan wasn't next to her, so she felt his spot and found it to be cold. She got up and put on a new outfit that her superior, Colonel Keith Wolfman, had sent. This was a blue, long-sleeved, zip-up thong leotard that came with thigh-high black boots, black fingerless gauntlets, a pair of infrared goggles, and a utility belt and backpack. She decided to keep her hair loose and her zipper halfway up to see what her boyfriend thought of it. She heard a 'meow' coming from Oreo, so she smiled, picked him up and took him to his food bowl.

After putting Oreo near the bowl, Cammy saw the lab door open. "…Are you sure about this, Logan?" she heard Kiryo ask.

"Bluebird hasn't failed me yet, man. We got all the ingredients and did what the instructions said. I just want to get this over and done with before we go after that bastard, okay?" said Logan.

"What's going on, you two? Don't tell me that you planned some sort of Halloween prank on some bully and Bluebird got involved," Cammy said, knowing that Logan wouldn't do heroin whether he was afraid of needles or not.

"Actually, I had a nasty nightmare last night. In it, Decapre was hugging you and me before suddenly disappearing. After that, Bison about crushed us and I awoke from it. I called Bluebird and told her about it, the prank we pulled on Birdie, and about the weirdo we met. It turns out that that weirdo was Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow."

"Scarecrow is Gotham's self-styled 'Master of Fear', isn't he? What's he doing in St. Louis?"

"I honestly don't…OW!" Logan began before Kiryo injected the antidote in Logan's arm.

"Sorry about that," said Kiryo. "I know how much you hate needles, so I thought Cammy would be the perfect distraction."

"Between her lovely voice and the outfit she's got on, you'd definitely be right." Logan's statement got Kiryo to roll his eyes and Cammy to blush and smile, happy at the fact that he definitely noticed her look. "That's the new mission gear that Colonel Wolfman sent you, right?"

"Yes it is. I just thought I'd try it on and wear my hair loose for a change. I must've had it in pigtails ever since I was still brainwashed," Cammy explained.

"Well that's good. Crane caught us by surprise last night, so I didn't exactly get a lock on his Spirit Signature. We'll have to find him the old-fashioned way," Logan said.

"Not necessarily," said Kiryo. "I was suspicious of him from the start, so I got a lock on him myself. My 'Spirit Sense' isn't as good as yours, so you'll have to bear with me here." His ancestors nodded as he began to focus on Crane's Signature. "I found him."

* * *

Back at Nate's cave, the Silver Lantern looked all over the place like he was searching for something. Sharel couldn't help but wonder what it was, though. It was obvious that Nate was pretty irritated. "C'mon, where is it? I know I have it around here somewhere," he said.

"What are you looking for, Nathaniel?" Sharel asked.

"I'm looking for one of my faulty Power Batteries. It's the one that changes throughout the colors of the Emotional Spectrum. I've been trying to keep that one away from the Lantern Corps."

"Oh, you mean that one. It might've gone missing last night while we were at the costume party."

"Well if that's the case, and we factor in the speed that the Batteries, Rings, and even the Lanterns themselves fly at, then…" Nate thought for a second before coming up with an idea. "Maybe we can use our rings to find out where that thing went." Sharel nodded and got right to it. Using her ring, she picked up a rainbow trail. She followed it outside the cave with Nate tailing behind her. She looked and saw that the trail was heading to where she was afraid that it would go.

"Nathaniel, I have some bad news. That Rainbow Battery went southeast. Over to St. Louis to be exact," she said.

"It must've picked up someone who uses one of those Emotions more than the others. I hope it's Logan and it picked up Hope or Willpower coming from him," said Nate.

"I don't know. I picked up the Yellow pretty easily. That means Fear."

"And that also means we better get going." Sharel nodded before grabbing Nate's shoulder and focusing her mind. Nate assumed that it was Logan she was focusing on, but it was actually Kiryo. Nate saw Todd riding on Pitch, so he grabbed the two of them in the nick of time, causing them to be transported as well.

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Kiryo had led Logan and Cammy to where Scarecrow was at. It was a science lab that Logan had found very fitting for someone like Crane. All three of them knew to stay on their guard since it could be riddled with fear toxin emitters. They noticed a light coming from behind them so they looked and saw Nate, Sharel, Todd, and Pitch. "Okay, Nate, you better have a good reason for this," said Todd, who was slightly angry with the original Silver Lantern.

"What are you guys doing here?" Logan asked.

"I was just about to explain it to Todd here," said Nate. "One of my prototype Power Batteries went missing last night, so Sharel and I followed the trail and saw that it led here. It's the one that keeps changing colors."

"You were trying to keep that one from interacting with Hal and the other Lanterns, right?" Nate nodded. "Well now that you're here, maybe you guys can help us with a case. It's more of a psychological thing, though." This caught Sharel's attention, who was flirting with Kiryo this whole time and making him blush brighter than a Jack-o-Lantern to Cammy's ire. Logan went on to explain about Scarecrow and his fear toxin, but he left out his nightmare.

When he got done, Sharel irritated the Brit again by clinging onto Kiryo's arm, obviously pretending to be scared. "Will you quit messing around, Sharel? That is my descendant after all," she stated.

"It sounds to me like this 'Scarecrow' guy is tough in his own right," said Todd, who had just covered every part of himself except his head in the Symbiote ooze. He put on his Halloween costume over it and put the hood on.

"By the way, Logan, the Rainbow Battery flew off on its own last night. Sharel managed to find it, picking up the Fear emotion pretty strongly," Nate said.

"If it hasn't gotten to Scarecrow yet, it will. Let's keep our eyes peeled and stay out of contact with that fear toxin," Logan recommended, getting the others to nod. Logan put on his sunglasses and handed another pair to Kiryo.

"Now how come we don't get any of those infrared shades?" Nate asked for himself, Sharel, and Cloak.

"Cloak's a Technomancer and you and Sharel are Lanterns. You guys should be able to pick up any laser tripwires without the use of infrared lenses."

As Kiryo was about to put his on, Sharel wrapped her arms around his neck. "It doesn't matter. I still think they look cool, especially on Kiryo here," she said, making her flirting target/semi-crush blush madly, Nate get jealous, and Cammy get angrier with her. She saw Cammy's angered expression and let go.

"Sharel, there's a time and place for everything," said the soldier.

"I agree with Cammy. Now's not the time or the place to be flirting with our descendant. We have a mission to focus on," Logan added, getting a nod from the pouting Sharel. The second Silver Lantern saw that Logan had some knives in his hand, which he turned and threw into the air. They hit a yellow shield and exploded. Within the shield was a pink humanoid alien with slicked-back hair and a pencil moustache. He wore a black-and-yellow suit with spiked yellow edges on it and a different symbol from that of the Green Lanterns. The suit even included a pair of yellow boots. "Thaal Sinestro…I've heard of you from John."

"And I have heard of you from your reputation, boy," said Sinestro. "I'm supposed to be imprisoned, but the Green Lanterns, most notably Hal Jordan and John Stewart, have heard of your dilemma and released me on the premise that I return to my cell afterwards."

"Why would Hal do something so foolish? He knows you're an intergalactic criminal, Sinestro." As Logan said that, Kiryo got his hands on his swords.

"Hal Jordan is no fool. He knows that to defeat a self-styled 'Master of Fear', one must rely on another one. In this case, you shall work with me, the leader of the Sinestro Corp."

"That's a creative name," Cloak sarcastically said.

"Blame Booster Gold," Kiryo said. "He came up with it."

"The Green Lanterns also saw it as a good opportunity for you to work with their newest recruit," Sinestro added, indicating to a Green Lantern that accompanied him. He wore a black bodysuit with green linings on it. The attached black cowl had a green mask accompanying it. Both sides of his torso had green on them, as did his lower legs. Naturally, the Green Lantern's insignia was placed in the center of his chest. His arms and the lower half of his face were uncovered, showing that he was of Middle Eastern descent.

"You're Simon Baz, right? Hal told me about you," said Logan.

"I hope it was good things," said Simon. Logan smiled and stuck his hand out for Simon to shake. He did just that before they proceeded to deal with Scarecrow. Due to the news reports that put the Middle East in a bad light, though, Nate couldn't help but be suspicious of Simon.

* * *

After Cloak disabled the infrared sensors, they proceeded through to the main lab portion where Scarecrow was at. Logan had everyone, Sharel included, be quiet so Kiryo could focus. They finally found the right door, but Crane had locked it. Due to a previous past of stealing a car, Simon was uncomfortable with unlocking the door. The others (including Sinestro) encouraged him to do it, so he took a deep breath and formed a key construct. With it, he easily unlocked the door. "You know, I could've done that," Nate whispered.

"I know, but we need to see what Simon can do. This includes the small stuff like this," Logan explained. The new Green Lantern was about to turn the light on, but Sinestro stopped him and shook his head. The group used their own light sources, which meant the rings for the Lanterns, and looked around. Logan saw some plans on the table. It was a blueprint for pumpkin bombs. "Crane doesn't make much of an effort to keep his plans hidden, does he?"

"That's one thing that makes him inferior to me," said Sinestro.

"I wouldn't doubt it, Sinestro. Remind me not to piss you off on a bad day."

Sharel had stuck by Kiryo, so they used her ring as opposed to his flashlight. She shone the light on the floor and looked around. The light hit a pair of feet, so she raised it to see who it belonged to. It was a figure in ragged pants, a torn brown shirt, burlap sack with a gas mask, and a tattered hood. On his right hand were syringes containing fear toxin. "Um, Logan?" said Sharel, getting the attention of the others.

"So that's the Scarecrow?" asked Sinestro. "He's more intimidating than I gave him credit for."

"So you've managed to find me out, Logan Washburn? I'm impressed. I also see you brought your own 'Master of Fear' along with you," said Scarecrow, his voice intimidating Sharel and Nate a little bit.

"Believe me, Crane, it wasn't my idea. It probably is a good thing that he came along, though," Logan said. Sinestro decided to demonstrate his meaning by forming a vice grip construct and using it to squeeze Scarecrow. Sadly, this didn't include Crane's arms, so he grabbed the ceiling and pulled it down, causing the roofing to fall on the other Fear Master. The ex-psychologist laughed maniacally at Sinestro's misfortune. Kiryo was the next to charge, attacking with a slightly improved 'Spiral Arrow'. When the attack hit, it sent Scarecrow to the wall, making Cammy proud that their training was working. She knew that he still needed work, though. Scarecrow tried to retaliate, but the Future Assassin countered with the one technique in his arsenal that didn't need any improvement.

"Cannon Spike!" he shouted, kicking Scarecrow to the roof. Logan patted him on the back as Nate took the fighters who couldn't fly to the roof. Simon had gotten Sinestro out of the roofing pile and the two of them joined the others. Scarecrow tried again to charge for Kiryo, who was ready to counter another attack. Logan stepped in between them, though. "What's wrong, Logan?"

"Crane's no idiot. He would've avoided your next attack and that would've left you wide open. I know you haven't put much effort in your fighting yet, Kiryo, but why don't you focus on guarding Cammy and the others? Cloak and I can handle him," said Logan.

"What if he gets past you?"

"Then he's yours and Simon's to take on." Kiryo nodded, but Nate groaned, complaining that he and Sharel got put on defense duty while Simon and Kiryo were able to switch up. Logan looked and saw that Cloak had decided the Halloween costume was too cumbersome, switching back to his usual look with Pitch, in Panther form, ready to fight as well.

"I won't even bother with injecting fear toxin into you this time!" exclaimed Scarecrow, who pulled out a scythe. "I'll just slice you all up and grind your bones into dust!" He attacked the duo, but Pitch retaliated by tackling and clawing Scarecrow up. Crane kicked him off and countered Cloak's attack with a block before slashing at the Exonian. Cloak was hit, joining Pitch, but the two of them got back up on their feet.

Logan caught Scarecrow by surprise by double-kicking off of him and jumping high into the air, preparing another high-risk, high-reward move. While in the air, he formed an attack that resembled Guile's 'Sonic Hurricane' in appearance. Logan reeled his right arm back and aimed at the still-dazed Scarecrow. "Sonic Missile!" he exclaimed. He fired the 'Sonic Missile' and the main attack hit, along with a series of miniature strikes, followed by Logan himself planting his foot hard on Scarecrow's face. The reward was well worth the risk as the attack had dealt Scarecrow a great amount of damage. "That should do it."

"Oh yeah," said Cloak. They saw the Rainbow Battery float above their heads and hover towards the fallen Scarecrow.

"What is that?" asked Sinestro.

"That's the reason Nate and Sharel are here," Logan explained. Simon tried to fire some blasts at the Battery, only for it to deflect his shots and hit him. Scarecrow got up and concentrated on the Battery. Eventually, he reached for it, but when he touched it, the Battery entered into his body and slightly changed his appearance. "What in the Hell…?"

What stood in the place of the old Scarecrow was one with a slightly bigger muscle mass and a completely black body. In his chest was the core of the Rainbow Battery, shining in the different colors of the Spectrum. The same applied for his syringes and eyes. "I see…That Power Battery was a different kind than the ones previously seen," he said, his voice sounding even more sinister. "'Scarecrow' seems like a name for the weakling I once was. Now, I have the abilities of the Emotional Spectrum. Call me 'Prism'!"

"That's not good!" exclaimed Simon. He attacked the newly-dubbed Prism with a sledgehammer construct, but it was blocked by a yellow shield. Prism formed a giant claw from his hand and slammed Simon to the ground. Sinestro tried to hit him with a pendulum strike, but Crane dodged it and broke through his shield, knocking the Sinestro Corp. leader down. Logan, Cloak, and Pitch put up a slightly better fight. The Panther jumped on Crane's back and caused him to stumble a bit. As Crane tried to get Pitch off, Cloak and Logan attacked with a twin punch to his face.

It took him a bit, but Prism was finally able to get Pitch off and throw him back to Logan and Cloak, knocking the three of them down. Before Logan could get back up, however, Prism forcefully injected him with the fear toxin, forcing him back down. This angered Kiryo and Cammy, but Nate and Sharel decided to team up this time. Nate made a couple of identical constructs, one on each arm, and put them together with his arms straight out. He rapidly flew towards Prism like a battering ram. Crane tried a multicolor shield, but Nate broke through it and slammed him towards Sharel, who was waiting with an energy cage of her own creation as opposed to a construct.

Sharel followed up with constructs of padlocked chains around the cage. Crane, with the use of extreme Willpower and the emotion of Hope, broke free from it and used giant hand constructs on both Silver Lanterns. After knocking Nate and Sharel out, Prism set his sights on Cammy and Kiryo, who were more than ready to fight after he reintroduced Logan's system to the fear toxin he had previously cured himself of. Cammy was slightly more furious, and thus was the quicker of the two to attack. She attacked with a 'Spiral Arrow', but Crane grabbed her and was about to throw her to the ground. Before he could, though, Kiryo slashed him with his swords.

Cammy followed Kiryo's attack up by kicking Crane into the air from multiple angles before finishing with an aerial 'Spiral Arrow' through him. Prism was still standing, though, but he was more pissed than before. Kiryo attacked again, but Prism grabbed his arms with a vice grip construct of his own and kicked the Future Assassin repeatedly before sending him towards Cammy, again knocking both down. "How many times must I knock you nuisances down before you are dead?" he rhetorically asked before injecting them both with the same fear toxin that Logan was injected with.

Logan's physical eyes saw his fallen comrades, but his mind saw more bloodshed, as well as comrades lost or missing. The ones he was closest to were what astonished him the most. This included an android who was like a brother to him, human like with scars on his body, a blue shirt, white pants, and white sparring gloves. The look was complete with a faux-hawk. _'Abel…'_ He also saw a man who looked like him, but with an overcoat-style hooded jacket. _'…Dad…'_ Also among the victims were the five Soul Reapers he was closest to. _'…Soifon…Yoruichi…Byakuya…Rukia…Ichigo…'_ The next sights that came to him were what did it for him as well. _'Cammy…Kiryo…Chun-Li…Guile…'_ The final sight was also the final straw. On the ground in his mind was the only other Doll he knew in her usual outfit without the mask, but with the burn.

She was at the feet of Bison, who was holding the last victim he saw by the neck. He had a head of blonde hair with a forelock, a pair of glasses, yellow vest, green pants, and black boots. _'…Decapre…Charlie…'_ The physical sight of Cammy and Kiryo receiving their beatings from Prism was enough, but being forced to see gruesome images of those closest to him, especially those two, Chun-Li, Decapre, Guile, and Charlie, pushed Logan past his limits. "Crane!" he shouted, getting Prism's attention. "You say you've grown more powerful, but all you used on me and Cammy was that fear toxin! You're going to pay for forcing those images into my mind! I'll show you a real nightmare!"

It was clear to Crane that the fear toxin was forced out and Logan was seeing red. He let out a mighty shout and was covered in electricity from head to toe. His eyes only had the sclera in them, his iris and pupil having vanished. The others were either scared or confused, but Kiryo knew this to be the nightmare that the Soifon in his time had told him about. He injected Cammy with the antidote, having got a second syringe ready should one of them be infected. "K-Kiryo, what's wrong with Logan?" she asked.

"This is the nightmare that Auntie Soifon warned me about. Apparently, today was the day that Logan unintentionally unlocks his 'Chidori Discharge'. She told me that he gains control over it during one final battle against Bison, but with my arrival in this timeline, something could change," Kiryo explained. It was obvious that Logan was using a more primal fighting style as he swiped Prism on the face. He continued the swipe slashes until Crane finally put up a shield. However, Logan, in all his primal rage, broke through it, stuck his hand in the center of his chest, and pulled out the Rainbow Battery, turning Prism back into Scarecrow. He finished it by slamming the Rainbow Battery on Scarecrow's head, knocking him out and destroying the battery in the process.

Before he could target anyone else, though, a metal chain wrapped itself tightly around Logan's neck. Cammy and the others saw that there was also Hellfire setting the chain ablaze and turning Logan back into his normal state as well. Kiryo and Cloak knew that chain all-too-well, so they followed it, and sure enough, Scorpion was at a good distance before turning around and leaving. The two of them helped the St. Louis Den-master up and heaved him onto their shoulders before heading to the park, knowing that they still didn't trust Nate with the location of Logan's base.

* * *

When they got to the park, they laid Logan down on the bench. Cammy followed and had his head on her lap. She saw a hand on Logan's throat where the chain was at, so she looked and saw Sharel was healing him. "Visually, he'll be fine. Physically, he'll have a sore throat for a little bit thanks to that ninja. That 'Chidori Discharge' of his worked in ridding him of the fear toxin. However, it seemed to nullify his sense of reasoning until he was knocked out," Sharel explained in a serious manner for once.

"Thank you, Sharel. But this still doesn't mean that you have the right to tease our descendant," Cammy said.

"I know."

"There you are!" shouted a gruff voice. They looked and saw Birdie with an angry look on his face. "You guys are going to pay for…What happened to him?" he asked, referring to Logan.

"Long day," said Kiryo.

"Bah! Whatever. It'd be a waste of time anyways. See you!" he said, baffling the others.

CHAPTER 21 END

* * *

**Alright, so that was chapter 21 of Big Leagues. Even though Nate and Sharel were in this, I wanted to keep with the seriousness of the New 52 in this story. The exception is when it involves comic relief characters like Birdie. I was originally going to do an omake segment, but I decided against it. Anyways, let me know what you think.**


	22. It's Not the Same! Kiryo Steps Up!

**It's Not the Same! Kiryo Steps Up!**

The sun had just set in St. Louis, so Nate and Sharel decided to head back home. Simon escorted Sinestro back to his cell in Oa, which left Logan, Cammy, Kiryo, Cloak, and Pitch. Naturally, Sharel didn't leave without blowing a kiss towards the Future Assassin, making Cammy angry. She decided right then and there that she would have to find a suitable girlfriend for Kiryo. The Delta Red agent figured that that would at least slow the flirting down to a minimum.

Her biggest worry, though, was her own love: Logan. Cloak sat him up so that Kiryo could carry him on his back. Making their way past the trick-or-treaters, the group had managed to get to one of the lids of the tunnels that Logan's so fond of going through. Cloak lifted the lid and let the others climb down. The Exonian had a good look at the tunnels and got a few memories playing back through his mind. "This reminds me of a mission I went on with Nightwing and Green Arrow. We also had Ichigo, Renji, and Uryu there as well," he said.

"Where was this at?" asked Cammy.

"This was in Tokyo, before McSleez invaded. In Logan's stead, we destroyed one of the Templar divisions, but not without fighting a Templar by the name of David Crenshaw. From their first meeting in Germany to his death in Karakura Town, he was Logan's archnemesis, the battle between Templars and Assassins being the cause of it. From what I remember, though, it was more of a personal history between the two of them. Neither one liked the other."

"What was the end result?" Kiryo asked.

"Logan won. He finished Crenshaw off with his 'Chidori Blade'. After that, Crenshaw died in a pool of his own blood and McSleez came along, bringing Pitch and my best friend Sonny Seconds with him. Seconds was a speed demon cyborg who went by the name Blur. He got his cybernetic implants due to a Hyper Car sabotage."

"That's bad," said Cammy. "Logan did tell me you said that Krag City was powered by momentum-based energy."

"That's correct. Sonny and my brother Brad hated each other, but they lived for the moment. Logan and Nate remind me of the two of them, but they get along much better." They had arrived at the door that had Logan's hideout behind it, so Cammy took off one of her gloves and put her hand on the scanner. She also had the optic scanner scan her eye as well.

"SYSTEM RECOGNITION COMPLETE. WELCOME HOME, CAMMY WHITE," it said. The door opened and they saw that Bluebird had arrived. Cammy checked and saw that the Zeta transporter was just used.

"Bluebird, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"On his way back to Oa, Simon had told me and Batman about what happened to Logan. He even mentioned his sore throat, so I remembered this, grabbed it, and came here," explained the gun-toting vigilante, who was holding a peculiar collar in her hand. "I made this thing as one of my side projects while I was bored with nothing to do. The prototype models had only one use on them, so while Red Robin was taking his turn researching the cyborgs, I decided to see if I can perfect it for multiple uses."

"What is it?" asked Kiryo.

"This, my friend, is a medical collar that Logan gets to try out. It's supposed to go on your neck and heal sore throats, headaches, migraines, and neck pains. He'll be the first one to try the new model, so we'll get to see how it works. Combined with Logan's natural healing factor, it should only take a few hours." Cloak and Kiryo set the aforementioned Assassin on his and Cammy's bed so Bluebird could put the collar on easier. When it was set, the girls smiled as he slept soundly now compared to last night. They smiled some more when Oreo lied down right beside him.

Kiryo noticed that Cloak and Pitch were heading out the door. "Hey, where are you guys going?" he asked.

"We're getting out of here. If I stay in one place for too long, Patience Phillips is bound to find us and I don't want that to happen," Cloak said. Kiryo nodded in understanding. After Cloak left, Bluebird snuck up behind the Future Assassin and did her best 'Bat Glare'.

"Do you mind telling me what you're still doing here, Kiryo?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Just so we can avoid Bluebird being blunt here, what she means is, since Logan's out cold and we have to take care of him, you're the only one here who's capable of keeping the city safe. It'll be tough, but we have faith in you," Cammy explained. "You were trained for it after all."

"Yeah, but my style mainly uses swordplay. I have a good chance of killing someone in a bloody mess."

"Then will yourself to use your swords less often. You do know my 'Spiral Arrow' and 'Cannon Spike' after all. Plus, he was able to teach you the 'Shoryuken'. You'll be fine."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kiryo asked.

* * *

He made his way to the top of the buildings where Logan always goes to. After having a good look at the city and comparing it to Neo Tokyo in his time, Kiryo figured that St. Louis was going to need some getting used to. He began by 'Flash Stepping' his way around to see how well he could get around. So far, he hasn't had much trouble with it. Suddenly, he heard a woman's scream, so he went to check it out.

The sound came from a young woman being held hostage. It was a common crook robbing a jewelry store. The girl being held hostage had purple hair with pink highlights framing her cute face. She had on black-framed glasses over her frightened hazel eyes, a sleeveless striped shirt, diamond-studded blue jeans, and white sneakers on her slender frame. "Okay, folks, now that I have your attention, if you don't want this girl to die, put every jewel in the bag! And if I find out someone called the cops, she dies!" he exclaimed, frightening the young lady to tears.

Suddenly, everyone heard a thud, so they looked and saw Kiryo with his index and middle fingers on each hand extended out and the girl just fine, if not a bit traumatized. She had a good look at her savior and surprised him with a hug. "Oh thank you!" she said, crying in his chest and repeating 'Thank you' over and over again. If it weren't for her glasses, she would've stained his shirt.

"I-It's no problem. I-I was just doing my job," he humbly said, awkwardly returning her hug in comfort.

"Well, son, how much do you get paid?" asked an old man.

"I don't, I'm afraid. Then again, I don't need to. I would have been more than happy to help out." Kiryo's humility made everyone smile, reminding them of Logan. "I…I guess I'll see you around." After that, he left, but the girl he rescued had hope that she'd meet him again.

* * *

'_Man that was awkward. People in Neo Tokyo aren't near as friendly as these guys. Then again, I am in a different time. Thank God it's a time where Vandal Savage hasn't terrorized my bloodline yet,'_ Kiryo thought, continuing his patrol. _'And that girl…She was the most appreciative of all of them. I felt strange, but at the same time, happy. I should go out on my own more often instead of getting stuck with Logan, Cammy, Auntie Soifon, and Booster. Then again, I still need to train with them.'_

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a child crying. He looked and saw a little boy being comforted by his parents. They looked like they weren't in the best financial shape, but that didn't concern Kiryo. What concerned him was the reason that the kid was crying. In fact, there were two reasons: His balloon was stuck in a tree and neither of his parents could get to it, and the kid also wanted ice cream. Unfortunately, the parents gave him a sorrowful look. _'Poor kid. There's got to be something I can do to cheer him up.'_

He jumped down and walked towards the ice cream vendor, who was a chubby, greedy man who cared more about money and the quality of his ice cream than he did his customers. The vendor saw Kiryo, or more specifically, the swords on his back and the scowl on his face, and was scared. Of course, it was something Kiryo couldn't help given his history with Vandal Savage. "W-What do you want?" the vendor asked, frightened.

Kiryo dug his wallet out and pulled out a $10 bill. "Three vanilla cones, put chocolate sprinkles on one of them," he ordered, knowing that the vendor would pick on a pushover. However, the greedy man nodded and did as he was told. After handing Kiryo the order and his change, the Future Assassin walked over to the broke family. He gave the sprinkle one to the kid and the other two to the parents. "There you go. I couldn't quite help myself," he said.

"Thanks, mister. Say, are you a vigilante like Logan?" the boy asked.

"I'm trying. I wouldn't say I'm at his level."

"Well either way, thanks," said the father. "I'm Kerry Reynolds, Detective at the St. Louis PD. This is my wife Anna and my son Kerry Jr. As you can tell, we're struggling at the moment."

"Corrupt cops?"

"That's what I'm thinking. The chief is one of the few good ones, but he'll retire soon. If you want, I can be a contact of yours so you'd know what's going on both in the Police Department and in the city. Just let me know if you need to know anything."

"Thanks. I'd appreciate that." Kiryo jumped up, grabbed the balloon, and handed it back to Kerry Jr. before taking off.

"By the way, mister, we never got your name!" Kerry Jr. called out again.

"It's Kiryo! Kiryo Harufune!" After that, Kiryo jumped back on top of the buildings and went back on patrol, leaving behind a smiling family. Kerry decided not to tell anyone else but the chief about their newfound friend.

* * *

Back at the hideout, Logan was still sleeping with the collar on him and Oreo on his arm. Cammy and Bluebird were tidying up the place and working on the antivirus program as well. Though she had faith in her descendant, Cammy still couldn't help but worry, mainly because he was in an unfamiliar city and there could be hookers who might try to seduce him. _'Once Logan wakes up, it's time to find Kiryo a suitable girlfriend. One around his age with a less promiscuous personality would be preferred. I'd bring up clothes, but that would make me a hypocrite. Shannon would be suitable if she wasn't too young. The same goes with Makoto and Elena. Then again, Elena has some type of interest in Logan. The same applies for Bluebird. Hmm…'_

Cammy was pulled from her thoughts as a certain metal mask came into view in one of the display cases. When she opened it, she took care to use the gloved part of her hand to pick it up, making sure she didn't get fingerprints on it. _'Logan misses you, Decapre. I can't really say I blame him. All of my sisters were beautiful, but with your tragic backstories, you and Juli could've been the gems that shined the most. Juni and Little Eagle are shining now since I'm helping Juni and Thunder Hawk's helping his fellow Thunderfoot. You would've enjoyed Kiryo. He would've been your nephew in a sense. I loved all the Dolls because they were all my sisters, you included. I'm sorry for all that's happened to you, for inducing your hatred of me. If there was a way we could truly make things right between us, I'd be happy to know.'_

"Cammy?" Bluebird asked, surprising the Brit. "Is that the mask that Logan showed me on the night Scarecrow first infected him?"

"Yes, Harper, it is. He probably told you this since you two are pretty close, but this mask belonged to one of my fellow Dolls. Her name was Decapre, and out of all of us, she's had the most tragic history. Logan loved her, and she loved him. In fact, he was the reason she and I reconciled after our battle in the S.I.N. Tournament," Cammy explained, putting the mask back. "She was burned on the left side of her face, but in Logan's eyes, she was still beautiful. This is mainly because he looks on the inside of one's character rather than their physical appearance."

"I see…It sounds to me like he has a lot of lady friends."

"Logan gets along well with women for the most part. There are a few that still don't trust him. For example, I don't think Wonder Woman would team up with him unless her life or the mission depended on it."

"You got that right. You also have to factor in other women who aren't crazy about him, including Wonder Girl, Black Canary, and this new vigilante in Gotham who calls herself the 'Spoiler'. Of course, Supergirl has working with Logan on her wish list while Raven and Starfire, as you know, have worked with him already."

"That's just to name a few in the Justice League."

* * *

Back in the city, Kiryo stopped to get a bottle of water due to the amount of running he's done. As he was coming out of the convenience store, some motorcycle riders rode just a little too fast into the main lot swinging their chains like Birdie did the other night. The Assassin of the Future jumped on top of the roof of the building to dodge them. The gangsters threw their chains around and broke several windows, laughing in the process. Among them was a woman dressed in very short denim shorts, high heels, and a very low-cut crop top with a police hat and orange hair. The rest were bald men wearing motorcycle clothes and had different-colored face paint on.

Of anything else Kiryo could see ruin his day, he saw the girl from earlier in danger. One of the gangsters was about to pick her up with his chain, but Kiryo 'Flash Stepped' in between them and caused the chain to wrap around his wrist. He yanked the said gangster off of his bike and punched him, getting the attention of his buddies. "Hey, you alright, Billy?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, Sid, I'm just fine," answered Billy. "This guy just happened to have gotten a little gutsy. And you call me 'Billy Badass'." Kiryo just glared at all of them, getting a grin from the gangsters. "That wasn't very smart, kid. You're not Logan Washburn. Where is he? Do you know?"

"Sorry, but Logan's out of town," Kiryo lied, keeping Logan's current condition a secret. "You've got to deal with me instead."

"Now I don't know about them," said the woman in the group. "But I wouldn't mind having you around, hon. My name's Roxy. What's yours?"

"I don't see why I have to tell anyone who terrorizes the innocent." Roxy just pouted and groaned, puckering her orange lips in disappointment. Billy and Sid caught Kiryo off guard by wrapping their chains around his wrists and ankles. They rode their bikes in opposite directions to hear him yell.

"C'mon, guys, leave him alone!" Roxy demanded, surprising the others that she would stand up for him.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on this pushover, Roxy! He's not Logan, and Poison has met Logan personally!" said Sid. The fact that they refused to stop picking on Kiryo angered Roxy, but before she could do anything about it, Kiryo forced himself to use 'Chidori' to break free, shocking Billy off of his bike again. Sid began to drag him all over the street, frightening the girl and making Roxy even angrier. The Future Assassin grabbed a lamppost and hung on, eventually tipping Sid's bike. After getting the chain off of his ankles, Kiryo put up his fists, prepared to fight all of the gangsters, who surrounded him ready to use switchblades. The exception was Roxy, who decided that enough was enough. Like the other girl, she was scared for Kiryo's life.

Kiryo showed that he could handle himself, though. Before they knew it, the gangsters were being flung left and right. He even conked their heads pretty hard, knocking a few of them out. A couple of the thugs even tried to chain him again, but he 'Flash Stepped' out of the way and made them rope each other. He grabbed the chains and pulled the two of them together, knocking them out cold as well. There were some more thugs heading his way with spiked clubs. "I suggest you guys leave him alone!" shouted a voice. This made the thugs, as well as Roxy and the other girl, look up at the lamppost. They saw a figure wearing a red outfit with kanji on the top, a black belt, white Nikes, brown hair over his eyes and a stern look on his face. In his right hand were three kunai. "Get out of here if you know what's good for you!"

"Oh crap! It's Guy!" shouted Billy.

"Let's get out of here!" another thug exclaimed. All the thugs made a run to get out of there. That's when Guy jumped down and joined Kiryo, Roxy, and the nervous girl.

"Thanks…I needed some help there," Kiryo said, catching his breath.

"It's no problem," Guy said. "It looks like your little slide on the asphalt didn't hurt you as bad as I thought. I know you heard them, but the name's Guy."

"Kiryo. This is sort of the first time since I arrived here that I didn't work with Cammy or Logan."

"Your name's Kiryo?" Roxy asked, getting in on the conversation. "That's a cool name."

"What are you still doing here, Roxy?" asked Guy. The girl that Kiryo rescued (for the second time) hugged him again, happy that he was alright.

"I was trying to get the guys to leave both of the kids alone. I also couldn't help but hear that Poison had personally met Logan as well."

"She did. So did Hugo. This was during the S.I.N. Tournament. Poison fought a woman named Rangiku Matsumoto, though. Rangiku won. Hugo also fought and lost against Logan's teammate Abel as well."

"Were there any other Mad Gears in the tournament?"

"The only other one was Rolento. He first lost against Guile, and then a second time against Logan and Chun-Li. Cody fought and lost to Cammy in Venice while Ibuki and I challenged their team in Karakura Town to settle the best-two-out-of-three match. Ibuki beat Abel, but I lost against Logan. He's a good fighter."

"I'll bet. And I'll also place a bet that Kiryo here's a student of his," said Roxy, giving Kiryo a seductive grin.

"Never mind that, Roxy," said Guy. "You need to find a place to hide."

"Yeah, you're right. I think I'll go back to Metro City and turn myself in. I did commit a few crimes after all. I'll tell Cody and Lucia you said 'hi'."

"Don't bother. If I know Cody, he's broken out of jail again to relieve his boredom." Kiryo saw that Guy had his usual stoic expression before it turned into a smirk. "I'm sure he'll find his light again somehow." Roxy smirked back, also knowing Cody's personality, before winking towards Kiryo and leaving.

"Okay, that makes two girls teasing me," said the descendant before he turned towards the other girl. "If I were you, I'd head home. It's pretty dangerous."

"You got it, Kiryo," the girl said with tears in her eyes, still scared of what happened to her hero. She hugged him again before leaving. When she was out of sight, Kiryo and Guy got to talking.

"I heard you were from Metro City, Guy. What brings you all the way here?"

"I was actually asked by Mike Haggar to follow them to see what they were up to. The pursuit led me here, so I was searching for Logan to help out," explained Guy. "That's when I ran into you."

"Well I'm afraid you're a little late. Something's telling me that I should trust you, so I'll let you in on this little bit of info." Kiryo relayed to Guy what happened earlier with Scarecrow, including the detail involving Scorpion. "…and that's all there is to it. I'm afraid that to deal with the Mad Gears, you're stuck with me."

"That's alright with me. I saw that you can handle yourself pretty well, so you're a more than acceptable substitute for Logan. I just hope we can find the Mad Gears' hideout here." Guy pondered for a little bit before signaling Kiryo to come along.

"What's up? Do you have any idea of their location?"

"Not exactly, but it's good to ask the police department."

"I wouldn't say that. Logan usually has trouble dealing with them due to a good majority of them being corrupt."

"So what you're saying is that they're just like Edi E.?" Kiryo nodded, knowing that Edi E. was the one who aided in framing Cody. "Damn. Do you have any contacts?"

"I have one, but I just met him today. Still, he should be able to provide us with sufficient info. If not, I can always call Cammy and ask if she knows anything." Guy nodded.

* * *

At the St. Louis PD, Kerry was looking over some files that had him a bit troubled. Coincidentally, it involved the appearance of the new gang in St. Louis. It mainly troubled him because there was a good chance that the Red Hood would come raising hell trying to take them down. The last time the Outlaws were in town, Logan had beaten him while Red Robin and Cammy fought Starfire. He heard a tap on the window, so he opened the blinds and saw Kiryo and Guy outside. "Kiryo, what's up?" he asked.

"We need a little info if you can provide it," said the Future Assassin

"Okay, but what about? And who's this guy with you?"

"This is Guy. He's the 39th Master of the Bushin-ryu Ninpo. We need to know of any possible locations of the Mad Gears if you have any."

"The Mad Gears? You mean that gang that just showed up?"

"That's the one," Guy said, finally speaking up.

"Well shoot, fellas, I had no idea that it was that particular group. The Mad Gears are the toughest gang in Metro City. Why they would set up camp here is beyond me." Kerry went back to his desk and got a mini-map to show to the vigilantes. "Here are some possible locations. I'm not quite sure which one they're in, so you guys are going to have to search yourselves."

"Alright. Thanks, Kerry," said Kiryo. He and Guy went to investigate the locations.

* * *

Back at the hideout, Cammy was at the target range with three throwing knives in each hand. She had her sights set on six targets. She threw the knives in her right hand and hit the top three targets dead-center. She got the same result for the ones in her left hand as well. After that, Cammy grabbed a seventh knife from the table and aimed at a final target, which Bluebird sat in front of with an apple on her head where the center was. Cammy threw it and immediately figured out that Batman's training had set in; Bluebird sat still, confident in Cammy's knife-throwing ability. Sure enough, the confidence and training paid off as the knife hit the apple and stuck it to the target. "That was some pretty good throwing you done there," said the gunslinger.

"Thank you. It was part of my abilities I retained after I was freed from Bison's brainwashing," Cammy said, having explained the whole brainwashing problem to her before. "Of course, you're pretty good at shooting skeet." Bluebird responded with a smile. They heard a 'meow' over the speaker, so they looked and saw Oreo sitting at the console. The girls giggled at his actions, but went out of the target range anyways. They met the cat in the kitchen—Cammy picking him up—and saw the collar on the counter. The girls looked into the living room and saw Logan, back to his healthy self and eating some beer-battered chicken that Cammy prepared. Needless to say, the girls were overjoyed to have him back to normal. "Are you enjoying your meal, darling?" Cammy asked.

Logan took the time to wipe his mouth off with the napkin he had before answering. "You better believe it. Thanks, Baby Doll," he answered. He took the dishes to the sink and washed them himself. "By the way, I sensed that Simon and Sinestro aren't on Earth anymore. Did they go back to Oa?"

"That's right. Nate and Sharel went back to Coast City as well. Cloak and Pitch left after we brought you here in order to avoid Patience."

"Go figure. I can't say I'm surprised."

"You didn't ask about Kiryo," said Bluebird. "Aren't you worried about him?"

"I am a little, but I know he can take care of himself. Besides, Guy's with him."

"Guy? You mean he's in town?" Cammy asked, getting a nod from her boyfriend.

"I don't know why he's here, though. After we get this mess I made cleaned up, we better check up on them," he said.

"Yeah, well I don't trust Gardner," said Bluebird. "You know that arrogant jerk became a Red Lantern."

"That's not the Guy I was talking about. I was referring to the Bushin-ryu Ninpo master."

"Oh, that one. Sorry, I thought you meant Guy Gardner." After getting everything cleaned up and Logan and Cammy exchanging a kiss, Logan applied his black sports wrap on his wrist, put on his jacket, fastened his sword, and equipped his hidden blades. Bluebird cocked her guns and put them in their holster while Cammy tight her gauntlets and fastened her utility belt and put her goggles back on.

* * *

Back with Kiryo and Guy, the former sensed out Billy and Sid, having picked up their Spirit Signatures from his fight with the Mad Gears earlier. This made it much easier to find them. As a matter of fact, outside of the door stood some of the goons from earlier. Kiryo threw a Trick Knife in the middle of the circle. The goons were exposed to the knockout gas that the knife contained. The Future Assassin put on a gas mask and handed one to Guy. Both of them, with Guy in the lead, dove near the wall of the building they were on before planting their feet on the said wall and jumping off. Guy kicked the door loose (and knocked Billy out), alerting to everyone that there was an intruder.

Both ninjas used stealth to get passed the henchmen, occasionally knocking one or two out at a time just for a little fun. Guy saw a bit of difficulty in the situation, as two of the Mad Gears were guarding their boss' door. It wasn't impossible, as while Kiryo wasn't as effective with it as Logan, his 'Flash Step' still got the job done. Then there was the issue with the snipers who had the laser sights. Kiryo stayed in the rafters, knowing that Guy would have to deal with them first.

After a bit of manipulation through the beams, the Bushin-ryu Master did just that. He quietly knocked one out before doing the same to the other. Kiryo got the signal and 'Flash Stepped' to the beam above the guards' heads. He got a couple of ropes, looped them around their feet, and then jumped down while holding the ropes, hanging them upside down. Kiryo then knocked them out as well. After being rejoined by Guy, he used one of his Hidden Blades to unlock the door.

In the office sat a man in a wheelchair wearing a blue suit with a white bowtie. He was bald with an Amish beard. "…if the Mayor doesn't cooperate with me, I'll have to use drastic measures!" he exclaimed, shouting at one of his goons.

"Then it's a good thing we're early, isn't it, Belger?" asked Guy, interrupting the conversation. "And here I thought Cody killed you."

"I'm afraid I'll have to get back to you on that note, Sid. I seem to have a couple of unwanted guests here." Belger hung up the phone before turning his attention to the ninjas. "Gentlemen, welcome to my new headquarters in St. Louis. And as a response to your statement, Guy, it's a miracle what modern technology can do nowadays, especially when you're in control of the Metro City division of STAR Labs."

"That answers my next question."

"As you can see, boys, I'm in the process of taking over St. Louis. I'd very much appreciate it if you were to leave immediately."

"I don't see why we should listen to anyone who cowers behind the 'safety' of a wheelchair! Why don't you stand up and fight us like a man, Belger!?" Guy demanded.

"I would, but I do have an appointment," said Belger, who rolled out to the balcony and made a left. Kiryo and Guy followed and heard him laugh as he took the lift to the top of the roof. Being the speedsters they were, the ninjas ran up the wall to keep pace with the crime lord. Once they got to the top, Belger rolled onto the roof with Guy and Kiryo jumping in front of him, knowing that there was a helicopter there as well. Guy threw one of his kunai at the engine and destroyed it. No one was killed in the explosion, but Belger was mad. "How dare you! Okay, that's it! You have interfered with my plans for the last time, ninja!"

He stood up and got out of his wheelchair, ready to fight. The other Mad Gears on the roof attacked as well, but Kiryo and Guy took care of them pretty quickly. Belger was about to hit Guy with his wheelchair, but Kiryo intervened. "Shoryuken!" he shouted, separating Belger from the chair with the uppercut. Guy noticed a bruise on Kiryo's right knuckle, wondering where it came from. They saw the crime boss get back up laughing his ass off. "Damn! You've got to be kidding me!" The ninjas continued an assault on Belger, but held them off, kicking them back each time.

That's when Guy got an idea. Since Belger was more familiar with Cody's fighting style, this would come as a complete surprise to him. Going at his top speed, Guy did a series of strikes on one side, then another series of strikes on another side, and then two more sets before finishing. He looked at his hand and saw that there was blood coming from his knuckles. "Kiryo, I want you to throw a Trick Knife. I'd prefer it if it was something that will cause a bit of a bang." The Future Assassin nodded and did as he was told, throwing the knife at Belger and having it explode on impact. After a few seconds, Belger emerged from the explosion. His appearance truly shocked them now; his right half of his body was all metal. "I was afraid of that."

"It's like I said, ninja: It's a miracle what modern technology can do!" Both ninjas gritted their teeth and attacked Belger at the same time again. The kingpin grabbed both of Guy's fists and kicked Kiryo back. After that, the villain kneed Guy's stomach and slammed him with his right hand. He then proceeded to throw the Bushin-ryu Master off the building, but Guy grabbed onto the ledge. "You really are stubborn, Guy!" Belger exclaimed before stepping on Guy's fingers. "Maybe this will get rid of you!"

Guy's pained groaning wasn't overlooked by Kiryo. The Future Assassin looked around until a propane tank came into sight. He got up, walked over to the tank, and picked it up, immediately figuring out that it was a full tank. He put a detonator on the tank, ran over to Belger, and slammed him off the building, Belger holding the tank. As Belger was falling, Kiryo pushed a button on his gauntlet, detonating the tank and causing an explosion. They looked and saw that there was a whole mess of blood mixed with oil all over the place. "We better get out of here before the corrupt cops find out what happened," Kiryo said, helping Guy back up.

"Oh man! We missed the party, didn't we?" asked a voice. The two of them looked up and saw Logan, Cammy, and Bluebird smirking down at them. "Way to get your feet wet, Kiryo!" Logan said.

* * *

Later, they met up at the Arch so Kiryo and Guy could fill them in on what happened, including the reason for the explosion that they heard. Logan was shocked that Belger was even alive, but was happy, knowing that he was supposed to be dead in the first place. Kiryo even told them about the girl from earlier and Kerry. "…and that's all there is to it. I know I messed up by killing Belger, but I had to save my teammate," Kiryo finished.

"Hey, I'm not mad, dude. Belger was supposed to be dead anyway. Cody did throw him out a window after all," Logan said, smiling.

"'The world is simply what it is'. That's from the Teachings of Bushin-ryu," said Guy. "You did well, Kiryo, but do not let that victory get to your head. Remember that a true vigilante doesn't fight for glory, but to protect those around him, as you have done today for that girl." Kiryo nodded in understanding.

"Sorry we couldn't have a rematch today, Guy," Logan said. "Maybe next time you're in town, you might consider it."

"I'd enjoy that." With that, Guy left to head back to Metro City.

"So, Kiryo," Cammy said, crossing her arms. "This girl you rescued. Is she nice?"

"Cammy!" Kiryo exclaimed.

CHAPTER 22 END

* * *

**Okay, so that's the follow-up to the previous chapter. If you've played **_**Final Fight**_**, I hope you guys didn't mind me putting Kiryo in Cody's place. Remember that this is connected to **_**Street Fighter III, IV,**_** and **_**V**_**, so Cody's in jail by now. I figured that with the different versions of Belger, it could be fun to have him for an antagonist in a chapter that has Kiryo teaming up with Guy while Logan's recovering. I have a few ideas for the next chapter, but one in particular is going to introduce the first **_**Street Fighter V**_** character in the story: Rashid of the Turbulent Wind! (I know Necalli was revealed after Ken and before Vega, but I don't quite know how to use him yet.) See you next time!**


	23. The Legendary Wind Master!

**The Legendary Wind Master!**

At the Justice League's Watchtower, Batman and Bluebird were looking on the computer to see of some unusual activity in the Galaxy, mainly on Earth. Batgirl and Alfred were looking after the cave, which meant that they had to keep Robin and Red Robin in check as usual. From what they heard, though, Robin actually spent his time sparring with Shannon and Red Robin was looking over the antivirus program. Bluebird knew that Tim would find a way to scrutinize her, but she wasn't all that worried about it.

The doors opened up and a man came in wearing a blue bodysuit with a red belt, boots, and cape and the all-too-familiar 'S' shield on the chest and cape. His black hair was combed to the side. As one would know, this was Kal-El, better known as Superman. "Hey, you guys. What's going on?" he asked.

"We're looking for some strange sightings on the computer," Bluebird said. "So far, we've picked up none."

"The reason we're doing this is because Logan's been restless lately," said Batman. "It's got nothing to do with the fear toxin that Scarecrow injected in him, though. Rather, it's because he's been itching for something to do outside of St. Louis."

"I hear he's got a rival in New York. He could go and face him in a fight," Superman suggested.

"That won't do for him. Besides, he hates all things New York, including their sports teams."

"Combine that with a dislike for the MLB's American League and you have a special hatred for the Yankees," Bluebird said with a smirk. Superman returned it in kind. Suddenly, the scanners picked up a signal from Earth, so Batman looked on the radar. He saw gusts of wind picking up from one singular location in the Middle East. "That's odd. What do these patterns mean?"

"I don't know for sure, but I believe we have just found someone who has been called the 'Wind Master'. This might be the thing Logan's been looking for."

* * *

At the St. Louis den, Logan was in the training area. He was still working on his form and trying to perfect it, but it was mostly to pass the time. His stance was a bit of a basic one, as per tradition with Shorin-ryu users. However, he put a little more weight on his back foot. His hands were open as opposed to close-fisted, and his arms were positioned like Ken's. He surged towards a practice dummy and used a 'Shoryuken' on it. He chained this with an air grab, jumped off of it, and landed back where he started. The dummy landed on its back. Suddenly, several clay disks were heading towards him. He blocked a good majority of them with his arms, but he was hit a few times and had to dodge the rest.

After that was over, he walked over to the bench where his towel and water were. One of the walls opened up and a screen was shown, meaning he was getting a call. The screen turned on to reveal Batman, Bluebird, and Superman. "Batman, Bluebird," he greeted. "It's good to hear from you. I see you have Superman with you."

"_That's right, but your mission doesn't involve you teaming up with him,"_ Batman said, confusing the Assassin. _"We have located the possible location of a person known as the 'Wind Master'. It's in Saudi Arabia, so Superman won't be very welcome there."_

"I've got this funny feeling that none of the well-known heroes will be welcome there, so that scratches Green Arrow, Flash, Hal, John, and Wonder Woman off the list as well. The same applies to J'onn and Aquaman. Who can I go with?"

"_Unfortunately, while Batman was placing the call, he turned down my offer to go with you. You'll need a mechanic in case you get shot down,"_ said Bluebird, pouting a little.

"What about Cyborg or Arsenal?"

"_Cyborg's on a mission right now and Arsenal's a hothead,"_ said the Dark Knight.

"_I do have a recommendation,"_ Superman said, getting the others' attention. _"One of my teammates in the Superman Family is a steel worker and mechanic. His name is Steel, and he even built his own suit."_

"I've heard of this guy. His real name is John Henry Irons, right?" Logan asked, getting a nod from Superman. "Come to think of it, Superman, the only one in your family that I've ever worked with was Superboy. Teaming up with Steel should be interesting."

"_I'm glad I got your interest. You might want to consider working with Supergirl, Krypto, and Streaky as well."_

"Roger. I'll let Cammy and Kiryo know what I'm up to. They can watch over the city while I'm gone." They nodded as Batman hung up.

* * *

Logan got cleaned up and packed a small bag for his mission. Cammy and Kiryo were confused as to what he was doing, which wasn't lost on him. "Um…I'm going to take a guess and say that you guys are a little perplexed, right?" he asked, getting a nod from Cammy. "I just got a call from the Watchtower after my training session was over. Batman's having me go to Saudi Arabia to search for this 'Wind Master' he's heard about. Since I'll need a mechanic in case the _Javelin_ gets shot down, Superman recommended his friend and teammate John Henry Irons, AKA Steel."

"But isn't Irons a steel worker?" Cammy asked.

"He's also a mechanic and engineer. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to make the weaponry and flight systems of his suit. It'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as possible." After saying that, Logan stole a quick kiss from Cammy and patted Kiryo's shoulder before heading outside with his stuff. The two of them followed and they were met with a gust of wind. They looked and saw the _Javelin_, which was a blue-grey jet with light blue linings. The platform on the bottom opened up and revealed a bald African-American male with a metallic suit. The torso of the suit had a neon 'S' symbol on it while a red cape was attached to the shoulders. "You must be Steel."

"That's right. Hop aboard," Steel said. "We can talk on the way there." He then had a look at Cammy Kiryo while Logan was stepping on. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he comes back in one piece."

"Please do. If you don't, we're holding Superman responsible," Kiryo said harshly. Steel nodded before stepping back inside the jet.

After the ramp was retracted, Steel made his way to the cockpit, where Logan was strapped into one of the seats. "Your descendant has quite the attitude on him," he said to the Assassin.

"If you think that, then you don't know Kiryo very well. He's normally quiet and more respectful, but he would much rather come along," Logan said back.

"Why didn't you allow him to?"

"Someone's got to watch over St. Louis and Cammy can't do it alone. Besides, Kiryo's the one who killed the Mad Gear leader Belger for good, something that Cody Travers hasn't been able to do." The statement surprised Steel. "Also, if we bring more than just us two, then that could spell trouble. I think we need to avoid as much of that as possible." Steel nodded in confirmation as they took off, Logan knowing that Cammy was praying for his safety.

* * *

At Coast City, Sharel was practicing with her ring on her own for once. It was certainly a good day for it. She figured that someone or something curious enough could come along. Using her own power, she made several targets appear. After that, she made a tennis ball appear and created a tennis racquet construct to hit it. Even in her own world, Sharel was familiar with different sports, Tennis being among them. She tossed the ball into the air and hit it with the racquet. The ball would hit one of the targets and make it disappear as it came back to her. The process repeated itself until all the targets disappeared. She decided to up the game a little by creating more targets and making them move. She repeated the same process, but she had to move around this time. Since she was more athletic than Nate, and thus was in better shape, she had little trouble with this.

She got rid of the targets and felt her pride swell a little bit. After that, she heard some clapping, so she looked and saw Hal applauding her. "That was pretty neat, Sharel," he said.

"Thank you, Green Baron," Sharel said with a bow, confusing the Green Lantern. "Now what are you doing here? Are you making sure you have plenty of airspace for your next test flight?"

"Actually, Carol has the shop closed today, so it's full-time Green Lantern all day for me. Have you seen Nate anywhere?"

"He's on a mission with Shazam. Can I be of assistance?"

"As a matter of fact, you can. I heard from a conversation between Superman and Batman that they were planning to send Logan to Saudi Arabia to cure his restlessness. He's got Steel with him, but that might not be enough. I'm afraid that even if we send Simon, a Green Lantern won't be welcome there."

"And you want to send me to back Logan up, right?" Hal nodded. "Is Kiryo going to be with him?"

"I'm afraid not. He'll most likely be watching over St. Louis, probably with Cammy's help," Hal said. "I know you have a small crush on Kiryo, but I need you there in case Logan comes across any trouble."

"Okay, Green Baron," Sharel dejectedly answered, sad that she wouldn't be spending time with the target of her affections. She sensed for Logan so she could locate him. Once the interdimensional girl found him, she opened up a portal and went there. She could've just teleported, but she needed to take the time to find out a way so Logan wouldn't find her, not taking his 'Spirit Sense' into account. The reason she did this was because she figured that Hal was doing this behind Batman and Superman's backs.

* * *

At the _Javelin_, Logan and Steel were almost to Saudi Arabia. All they saw was desert, so they knew that they were definitely in the Middle East. The Assassin was doing a quick brush-up of research on where they were going. He mainly looked at the city scape of their destination Riyadh, the animal life, and the people. The Assassin knew that he had to bring his sword, which originally belonged to the Syrian Assassin Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, for a reason. Even though Altair was raised an Assassin in Syria, he was considered a legend throughout all the Middle East. Ezio Auditore would follow suit in the future due to his travels to Constantinople as a Mentor despite originally being from Italy.

Steel noticed that his new teammate was being quiet. Of course, he couldn't blame him; working with any member outside of your usual team, especially one you hardly hear about, felt a little funny. Even though Steel was the only one on Superman's team without any powers, he still made his mark. Since Logan wasn't very comfortable working with many members of the Man of Steel's 'Family' (being more used to working with his own, Batman's, or Green Arrow's), he didn't know that much about Steel or the others aside from Superboy. "How much longer 'til we get to Riyadh?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be much longer," Steel answered. "Do you want to confirm something?"

"Actually, you just did it for me. It was one of the reasons why the codename 'Steel' fit you. That suit you designed has a function that limits your emotions, doesn't it?"

"Close, but no cigar. This suit is actually made from an organic steel not unlike that of Cyborg's implants. It's designed to prevent otherworldly infections, but it also has the effect of limiting my heart rate, meaning that my emotional responses are limited as well."

"Damn."

"Nice try, though." Within the city walls, some of the locals were unaware that there were rouge Saudis among them. They were even armed with cannons within their fortress. One of them saw the _Javelin_ coming in, so he directed the cannon at the jet's engine and ordered the operator to fire. Once the shot was fired, they looked to see if it would hit the jet. "…So you and Cammy are part of Kiryo's paternal bloodline?" Steel asked him.

"Yep," Logan said with pride. Suddenly, the two of them felt something hit them. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but hold on! I'm going to try to make a safe landing!" Steel pulled back on the flight stick to level the plane as much as possible. The landing was hard, but it only affected the bottom of the jet. Steel looked behind him to check up on Logan, who was rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think we have company coming, though." Steel looked out the window through his binoculars and saw that Logan was right. "We need to surprise them."

"How?"

"We wait for them to come to us, then pull a 'Batman'; in other words, take them down quietly and one by one." Steel grunted in confirmation and grabbed his Smart Hammer, which had the same scheme as his suit. "Nice hammer."

"I'll tell you about it later." Outside of the _Javelin_, as Logan had said, a group of five rogue Saudis arrived in a jeep. Speaking in their native language, the squad leader ordered his men to search the wreckage for anything, including survivors. Logan was under the sand thanks to his 'Flash Step' while Steel stayed on the jet, knowing that a couple of them were going to be on board. Two of the unlucky rogues wound up near Logan's spot. The Assassin jumped up and conked their heads together. He got back underground to look for his next target.

Steel was hiding in the dark corridor, waiting for his two targets to walk by. The unsuspecting rogues had their guns ready, but the armored man was behind them. Using the handle on his Smart Hammer, he took both of them down, knocking them out as well. He looked outside and saw a lump moving. Using the body heat sensors in his suit, he saw that it was Logan heading towards the last guy. The Assassin got to the driver's side door, reached his arm up, and knocked on it. Steel shook his head, knowing that this guy would be stupid enough to fall for this trick.

Sure enough, the driver opened the door and was grabbed by the ankle by an outstretched. No sooner was he drug underground than he was coming out. He was tossed out of the ground and knocked out. Logan came up from the ground and shook himself off as Steel brought the other rogues to the jeep. They put all five of them in their and dusted off their hands. "Nice tactics," Steel said. "I never took you for a burrower."

"Let's just say that I'm used to being underground," responded Logan. "Can you get the _Javelin_ back on its feet or do you need some help?"

"I can pick it up, but you'll have to bring out the legs. After that, you can go to Riyadh in that jeep and drop them off." Logan nodded and 'Flash Stepped' into the cockpit. He felt the jet move around, so he knew that Steel was picking it up. "Okay, Logan! Now!" said Steel over the intercom.

Logan found the right button to push, as the legs came out on the _Javelin_. Steel set it back down as the stairway came down. "That should do it. Are you going to be alright out here?" Logan asked.

"I'll be fine. When I made this suit, I installed a cooling function so I won't get burned up. I'm going to have to turn off the power of the ship, so you'll have to speak to me directly through our comlinks. The same applies to the Watchtower."

"Alright then, I'll be back as soon as possible. Dropping these guys off isn't going to be a problem. I may have some trouble finding this 'Wind Master', though."

"You might want to check in with your loved ones and see how they're doing. I'll let Superman know what's going on."

"Got it. I'll see you when I get back, Irons."

* * *

As Logan was driving the jeep back to Riyadh, he decided to take Steel's advice and call Cammy and Kiryo. _"Logan dear, how are you?"_ Cammy asked.

"Good morning, Baby Doll. I'm just fine. Unfortunately, we got shot down by some rogue Saudis, but we lived. We managed to knock out five of these guys, but the engine's shot," said Logan.

"_Oh no! Are you alright?"_

"We're perfectly fine, Cammy. I'm just a little dusty from burrowing in the sand, but I'm alright. Steel's working on the repairs, so I have to go to the city without him."

"_I'm just glad you're alright. I hope you find this 'Wind Master' soon."_

"I hope so too. It's probably getting late back home," Logan said.

"_It is. I hope to see you safe and sound. I love you,"_ said Cammy.

"I love you too, Sweetie." He then hit the 'END CALL' button and looked over at the knocked out Saudis and shook his head. "C'mon, guys. We'll just tell your wives that you had too much wine," he joked.

* * *

Once he got to the gate, a guard was there to greet him. He saw the knocked out 'passengers', so Logan explained what happened. He knew that relations between the Justice League and the Arabian people went from negative to mixed now that Simon was part of the League and the Green Lantern Corp., so he knew he was taking a risk. He found out that it was worth the reward because they allowed him to enter, but he had to walk. Once he took his stuff out, of the jeep, he did just that while the guards placed the rogues in their jail cell. When he got further into the city, he got on his comlink to contact Steel and the Watchtower. "Hey, guys, are you there?"

"_I'm here_," said Steel.

"_Present,"_ Bluebird said.

"I'm in Riyadh, but I'm afraid that I have to walk. It's a big city, that's for sure."

"_You're not kidding. Finding this 'Wind Master' won't be easy. Maybe you should ask for help,"_ said Harper.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Since I can't speak a lick of Arabic, though, I'll have to find someone who can speak English. The guard did tell me to go towards the palace, but he also said that there was another American arriving that he didn't like very well. I'll have to see who it is." Just as Logan had said that, he saw a helicopter flying over to the palace. He looked and saw the familiar insignia of LexCorp. "Hang on, guys, I'm going to go check something out. I might be in for some unpleasant company."

The Assassin rushed towards the palace after putting on his hood (he had on a white jacket this time), unknowingly attracting the attention of the rogues. He stopped when he saw a woman trying to pick her food up off the ground. There were some men bullying her about not being accompanied by a male member of her family, but since they were speaking in Arabic, Logan couldn't understand what they were saying. However, he didn't need to since he could see the situation. He only prayed that they understood English. "Hey! Leave her alone!" he shouted. Lucky him, they understood what he was saying.

"(What's this? An American infidel here?)" said one guy.

"(Why are you here, American?)" asked another. Logan stayed silent and glared at them. They thought it was because he was coming up with an excuse, but it was because he was defending the woman. He stood in between the woman and the men and crossed his arms. What they didn't know was that while they could understand what he was saying, he couldn't understand them. They just walked away after a while, thinking that he wasn't worth their time.

He turned around and helped the woman get her groceries gathered up. He helped her up as well. "Thank you, American," the woman said, surprising Logan that she could speak English. "I never knew that there was another man kind enough to help a woman."

"Uh, you're welcome. I had no idea that you could speak my language, though," Logan responded.

"Well, my mother did take the time to teach me English should I meet someone from America or England. The only other one who would be kind enough is my cousin Rashid. He's a bit of an outcast due to some traits of his. For example, he refuses to partake in incest, which is something shared between us. There are also the modifications to his outfit and his fascination with modern technology."

"I'm starting to like this guy already. However, I'm looking for someone called the 'Wind Master'. Can you guide me to him?"

"Oh yes I can," she said with a kind, yet flirting smile, something that Logan, given his experience with beautiful women, had managed to pick up. The two of them walked to the palace before she continued the conversation. "So what is your name, American?"

"My name is Logan. I hail from the Midwest."

"So you literally travelled halfway across the world? That's something."

"Compared to dealing with the Saudi Pirates here, that's nothing. What's your name, by the way?"

"As my father and uncle were killed at the time I was born, my mother gave me the name 'Ruth'. She said it was a beautiful name, but no others in our city agree outside of our family." Logan had a good look at the woman and noted that while she was wearing her veil and extremely concealing clothing, she was still a beauty. "Rashid is my older cousin, but we treat each other as brother and sister."

"I actually like your name."

"You do?"

"For a woman as beautiful as you, it fits."

"Sneaking a peek, I see. You do realize that you have me breaking the law of the land, do you not?"

"I'm a known rebel where I'm from," Logan said.

"Then you and Rashid would get along just fine," said Ruth as they got to the palace.

* * *

When they entered, Logan immediately had a good look at the décor. The palace had palm trees in big pots, marble tile floor, beige-colored walls, marble pillars, and was six stories high. Ruth guided him through the halls, but Logan noticed something off. He saw some blonde hair and silver-and-black linings on a suit. Using his 'Spirit Sense', he figured out who it was. "Are you lost, Sharel?" he asked, surprising Ruth and making the interdimensional girl fall down. "Let me guess: Nate caught wind of my mini-vacation here and sent you, didn't he?"

"You're mostly right," Sharel said, nervously chuckling as well. "But it wasn't Nathaniel who sent me; it was the Green Baron."

"Jordan. Damn. I'm going to have to have a talk with him. In the meantime, since you're here, you might as well join us. Just don't cause any trouble, got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Logan," said Ruth. "Who is this woman?"

"That's Sharel. She's a friend of mine from a different dimension. The ring she wields is that of a new type of Lantern called the 'Silver Lantern'," Logan explained. "The original one is my parolee Nathaniel Dement."

"And who does she mean when she says 'Green Baron'? And who is this 'Jordan' person?"

"We were both referring to Hal Jordan, who is the first human to join the Green Lantern Corp. I'll tell you about them later." Ruth nodded and guided her two foreign friends to the main room. When they got there, Logan saw a sight he did not want to deal with: Lex Luthor. Mercy Graves was standing behind the business mogul as well. Hosting them was a man wearing a long white sleeveless trench coat with black straps at the center of the coat and is tucked into a black sash. Underneath it was a black sleeveless shirt, white military pants, and black open-toed combat boots. On his head were a short white shemagh and a black agal. Over his left eye was a yellow eyepiece. He had black hair, light brown eyes, and well-groomed facial hair.

Ruth went up to the man and they greeted each other with a hug. "Rashid, it is so good to see you again!" she said excitedly.

"It's good to see you again as well, Ruth! How's my favorite cousin?" he said. After Ruth told Rashid about her day, he looked and saw Logan smiling warmly at the scene. "Am I to guess that you're the one who helped out my cousin?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"I guess you can say that. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rashid," Logan said, shaking Rashid's hand.

"The pleasure is mine, friend. You and your friend Sharel take a seat, Logan. I'll be back with some refreshments." With that, Logan and Sharel were left in the same room with their current enemy.

"So, Logan," Luthor said, finally speaking up. "How are you this fine day?"

"Aside from the _Javelin_ I was in getting shot down by some rogue Saudis, I'm perfectly fine."

"Well I hope you brought a mechanic who can take the temperatures. I wouldn't wish for anything bad to happen that you wouldn't be able to head home."

"Save the BS for your Presidential Campaign, Lex. I'd hate to have our host's home smelling like the cow manure you shovel off the podiums and into your followers' faces."

"As witty as ever, I see," Lex said as Mercy tried to hold in a laugh.

"It's part of my family's charm," Logan responded.

Rashid and Ruth came back into the room with the drinks for their guests, both of them noting the tension between Logan and Luthor. Deciding that he was uncomfortable with it, Rashid decided to see if he could break it. "Here are the drinks. Logan, I assumed that you must be very thirsty, so I got you some spring water," he said.

"Thank you, Rashid. I appreciate it."

"And for you, Mr. Luthor, I decided to bring you and your assistant a glass of our finest wine." Lex tasted the wine and found it to be White Grape-flavored.

"It's very good, Rashid. If I win the election, I'll be sure to bring you the best of what America has to offer as a peace treaty between our countries." Logan and Sharel looked at each other, knowing that Lex was lying. They were trying to be sure that he doesn't win on account of the cyborgs currently on standby.

"Well, Mr. Luthor, I wish you the best of luck on your campaign."

"And I certainly hope you have fun with it," Logan said as Luthor got up.

"Oh, you have no idea how much fun I'll have, Logan," said the business mogul before he and Mercy left. The secretary quickly blew the Assassin a kiss, making him quirk an eyebrow.

"Permission to speak my mind, Rashid?" asked the St. Louis Den-master.

"You're the guest," said the host.

"Mercy's a good-looking girl, but if I had to be in the same room with Luthor any longer, I'd have a harder time trying not to kill him."

"To be honest, I heard from the sounds of the wind what Luthor has done in your country. I can't stand him any more than you can."

"Wait, did you say 'sounds of the wind'?" Sharel asked. Rashid let out a grin at the question before guiding the guests to an open spot in the palace. He did a kick and, to Logan and Sharel's surprises, unleashed a tornado.

"You're him," Logan said once the tornado dissipated, making Rashid grin. "You're the 'Wind Master' I was looking for."

"So they call me the 'Wind Master' in North America?" asked the Arab, getting a nod from Logan. He did a series of flips backwards before speaking up again. "That's a cool nickname, but my true title is 'Rashid of the Turbulent Wind'. I've earned it for good reason."

* * *

Later that night, after they've discussed events that have happened in the U.S. so far (Logan leaving out Ibuki getting her driver's license and the issue with Rolento, as well as Kiryo's origins), the sun began to set. Rashid guided them to their room, which they found, to Logan's misfortune, that he was sharing with Sharel. Before turning in, he decided to report to the Watchtower and Steel before calling home. "Logan here. Anyone home?" he asked.

"_Check,"_ said Superman.

"_I'm here,"_ Steel said.

"_Steel told me what happened. What took you so long to report in?"_

"Well, I've got good news and bad news, both of which are why I haven't reported in before now. The good news is that I've located the 'Wind Master' and even got his name. He goes by the moniker 'Rashid of the Turbulent Wind'."

"_Well that's the good news,"_ said Superman.

"_What's the bad?"_ asked Steel.

"The bad news is that we had to put up with Lex Luthor as well."

"_What!?"_ both heroes shouted.

"Yeah. I'm amazed that I haven't pulled a bald joke on him."

"_You made a mistake,"_ said Steel.

"What do you mean 'I made a mistake'? Wasn't coming here the mission, Steel?"

"_What he means is the bald jokes. If you would've done that and have Mercy record them, then that would've been funny,"_ Superman said.

"Well, I'm afraid that there's more aside from Lex's Campaign. I'm going to have to chew out Hal for sending Sharel here as well," said Logan.

"_I'll…let Batman know. He knows how to really get a point across. In the meantime, keep Sharel there. You never know when you need her."_

"When we're done here, I'll have to tell her that we brought Steel along as well."

"_I almost have the _Javelin_ fixed. It didn't take as long as I thought, but I'll stay here so I won't cause that much of a commotion."_

"That's good. I'm going to call Cammy and Kiryo and let them know of my progress." After the three-way call ended. He dialed the number to his hideout and waited for someone to answer.

"_Good morning, Darling," _Cammy said, sounding like she had just woken up.

"Good evening on my end, Baby Doll. You sound tired," he said.

"_Well, you timed your call pretty well. I had just gotten up to get some breakfast. Did you find the 'Wind Master' yet?"_

"I did. His name is Rashid and in addition to using wind-based attacks like me, Charlie, and Guile, he also uses a Parkour-based fighting style. I could tell that from a few flips he easily pulled off."

"_Well, he sounds cool."_

"One thing that wasn't cool about this trip besides the temperature was the fact that we had to put up with Luthor. Rashid has a good-hearted nature and is a bit of a tech geek who would also get along well with Elena, but even he dislikes Luthor."

"_Why do I have a funny feeling that there's something else you haven't relayed to me yet?"_

"I was afraid you might ask that. Sharel's here as well."

"_WHAT!? Why is she with you!?"_ Cammy yelled as Logan held his phone away from his ear.

"Now, Cammy Honey, please calm down so I can explain," said Logan, as calmly as possible. He heard Cammy take a few deep breaths before calming down again. "The reason that Sharel's here is because Hal sent her. I was going to have a talk with him about it, but I think Batman's got that taken care of. Superman said that I should keep her nearby in case I need her help."

"_Well, I appreciate Hal's intentions, but I don't approve of Sharel. If she's trying to use this opportunity to gain your blessing to be our daughter-in-law, then you need to be on guard. You know I don't like her when it comes to Kiryo."_

"I know that, Sweetheart, but keep in mind that I can be pretty stubborn. If you remember right, while my den was being repaired, I managed to win a small fight with Chun-Li over the couch in the suite while she got the bed."

"_Oh yeah,"_ Cammy said, laughing a bit. _"I remember she told me about that. It was the first time you two have met. Try to be stubborn in this case too, will you?"_

"I can try. The nighttime air's got me feeling a little tired, Babe. I better hit the hay. Love you," said Logan. He got an 'I love you' back from Cammy as well. He went back into the shared room he had with Sharel and saw that there was only one bed, again much to his dismay. Sharel had occupied one side of the bed and left the other side for him. She was wearing a button-up nightgown (one button fastened so her breasts weren't fully exposed) and a pair of silk short shorts. After climbing in, he saw that she was holding a book around like she was trying to read it. "If you don't mind me asking, Sharel, just what the heck are you doing?"

"I'm trying to read one of these books, but all the words are printed in scribbles. I can't read a lick of it," she said.

"What languages can you read?"

"I can read English, Sign Language, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Russian in addition to my native tongue. Plus, thanks to my first contact with Kiryo, I can also read the Japanese symbols of Kanji and Katakana."

"And Chun-Li's still teaching him how to read and understand Chinese. However, that book is written in Arabic. It's the primary language in Saudi Arabia and about everywhere else in the Middle East. Unfortunately for you, touching me would be a waste of time since I can't speak Arabic to save my life."

"How do you think I know the European languages in the first place?" she asked, reminding him of their first meeting. "I picked them up when I was looking for Cammy through your mind. I just expanded on them until I learned every word in them. Oh, and don't worry." Logan gave her a funny look. "Nathaniel still doesn't know who Agent 37 is. That secret's safe with me."

"So you do know?" he asked, his arms folded. The blonde gave him a nod. "I hope there's no condition to helping me keep his mission a secret."

"You don't have a thing to worry about. I won't tell." After that, they turned the lights out and went to sleep.

* * *

Later that night, it turned midnight and Sharel was sound asleep. Logan tried his best to get that way, but something in the back of his mind told him that danger was lurking. He sensed a third, unwanted presence in the room, so he feigned sleep. Sure enough, a certain mercenary entered in and drew his sword in an attempt to kill Logan and Sharel. Logan reacted by opening his eyes and tossing a pillow in the mercenary's face. He grabbed him by the collar on the armor, took him out of the room, and tossed him down to the first floor in the main hall before jumping down himself.

When he got down, he got a good look at the mercenary and saw a mask that he hasn't seen in a while. "Deathstroke," Logan said.

"Long time, no see, boy," said the mercenary. "As you can probably guess, Green Arrow's the only other one who has ever pushed me over any rails."

"I wouldn't doubt it. What are you doing here, Slade? Is Luthor paying you big bucks to kill me?"

"You and Green Arrow. After that, Grayson and Raven are next."

"Then you had better beat me first." Slade didn't even have to respond to that. He made the first attack in the form of a slash with his sword. Logan grabbed the blade with both of his hands and kicked his foe in the stomach. He followed it up with a 'Sonic Boom' to further unbalance Deathstroke before 'Flash Stepping' up close to him. "Shoryuken!" he shouted, causing Slade to fall backwards. Logan pinned the old man down by the neck and prepared to punch him. However, he had a trick up his sleeve.

Slade activated a smoke bomb, causing the Assassin to cough. He felt a hook on his bare chest and saw that the line was heading towards one of Rashid's pots. As it came to him, he grabbed it and threw it at Deathstroke. The two fighters rushed towards each other to attack one another. Deathstroke threw Logan for a loop by firing at his feet. The Assassin off balance, Deathstroke connected several punches with Logan's face, grabbed his ankle, and threw him the opposite way.

The commotion was enough to wake up the remaining occupants of the temple, so Rashid, Ruth, and Sharel came out of their rooms and saw what was going on. As Deathstroke walked up to kill him, Rashid decided to step into action. He launched a mini tornado projectile and hit Slade in the back of the head with it. "Mr. Mercenary!" he shouted, getting Slade's attention. "Why don't you try fighting me instead of killing him? It will be worth your while!"

"Very well then," Slade said. "I think I'll kill you both." As Slade attacked Rashid and the latter kept dodging his attacks, the girls went to check on Logan.

"Logan, are you alright?" Sharel asked.

"I'm alright. I'd be better if Rashid didn't endanger himself like he is right now. That's Slade Wilson, better known as 'Deathstroke'. Dick, Raven, and I fought him in St. Louis when he came after the recordings I took of a conversation Nate had with Luthor. His initial targets were Bluebird and Arsenal, but he couldn't get the one she had, so he went after me and was glad to see Dick was in town. After he awoke from a coma that Dick put him in, Slade decided to pursue his vengeance on me, Raven, and especially Dick. However, Luthor hired him to kill me and Green Arrow."

"And because of both the money and the vengeance, he went after you first so he'd be at least partially satisfied, right?" Logan nodded at Sharel's question. "That's bad. Here. I'll heal you."

While Sharel was healing Logan, Rashid was having his own fun with Deathstroke. True to a Parkour style, Rashid used the walls and pillars to jump over Slade's sword. He's also managed to dodge all of Slade's bullets as well. However, even with all of his strikes, Rashid didn't do much damage to him on account of his speed-centered attacks. As Rashid went in head on for a kick, Deathstroke grabbed it and slammed him on the wall before tossing him on the floor.

Slade aimed his sniper rifle at the 'Wind Master', but it was suddenly destroyed by a 'Chidori Stream'. "You didn't forget about me, did you, Slade?" Logan asked, standing up and fully healed.

"Logan!" Rashid shouted. He launched one of his tornados, sending Logan a cue to jump on top of it so it'd spring him up. Rashid jumped in-between it and Slade and unleashed a large windstorm. The next thing Deathstroke (and Sharel) were surprised by was Rashid's upper body on top of a tornado that was kicking the mercenary. When he was finished, Deathstroke was still in the air.

"Skydive Assault!" Logan shouted, diving down and grabbing Slade's masked face. Once Slade was slammed down into the floor, he was knocked out. As Logan stood up, he picked Deathstroke's mask up with him. "Well that takes care of him." He then got on the communicator. "Logan to Watchtower: Deathstroke has been defeated and apprehended."

"_Deathstroke's out of his coma?"_ Superman asked.

"Yeah. I'd recommend transporting him to Stryker's Island. Keep his weapons away from him." After that, the communication ended. "Thanks for the help, Rashid. Sorry about your place," Logan said to their new friend.

"No worries. It's nothing major. I'm just glad that we put a mercenary away." He saw a light blue energy around Deathstroke. "Where did he go?" he asked.

"Relax. He's being transported to a maximum-security prison. He won't be able to get loose very easily unless Lex pays his bail."

"Well, at any rate, you look tired. You, Sharel, and Ruth head back to bed." Logan nodded and headed back to the guest room with Sharel.

* * *

The next morning, Logan was back in his gear. This included his sword, which Rashid had finally took notice of. The Arabian fighter noted that the Critical Attack that he used on Deathstroke shared its name with the sword's original owner Altair while its current owner had a laidback personality like Ezio. Logan and Sharel said goodbye to Rashid and Ruth and headed out. That's when Logan remembered something. "Hey, Sharel," he said, getting the girl's attention. "We have to meet up with Steel at the _Javelin_. Can you transport us there?"

"Of course, Logan," Sharel said, putting her hand on his head to find Steel so she could transport them to him. To the surprise of the people that were around, she teleported them out of the city.

Back at the _Javelin,_ Steel was in the cockpit checking on the controls. So far, his repairs on the engine haven't hampered them at all, which was a relief to him. Suddenly, a quick flash occurred within the jet, so he turned around and saw Logan and Sharel. "You're back. How did it go?" he asked.

"It would've gone better had Luthor and Deathstroke not been there. Rashid said he'd like to visit America sometime," said Logan.

"That would mean you'd have to watch his back. From what I know of your rival Alex and your friend Guile, they wouldn't be very welcome there."

"I'll let Guile find out the good person that Rashid is. As for Alex, I'll just knock him around a bit."

"That sounds like a plan."

"You better call Cammy and Kiryo and tell them we're on our way back," Sharel said. Logan smiled and nodded, patting her on the shoulder before making the call.

"Hello, Cammy? We're on our way home."

CHAPTER 23 END

* * *

**That was a long one. Of course, since it introduced Rashid into the story as well as had a battle against Deathstroke, I found it fitting that it was. Out of the three new characters introduced so far, I found him and Laura to be the two most interesting (being a man, you know one reason why I found Laura interesting). I mainly liked Rashid because when I play a **_**Street Fighter**_** game, I use speed-type characters, Ryu, and T. Hawk. As such, using Rashid and Charlie Nash is going to be fun. As for Laura, I like her because of her looks and the fact that she's the older sister of Sean, who was in **_**Street Fighter III**_**, not to mention that she's probably the first Jiu-Jitsu user in the series. It doesn't mean that I won't make a chapter featuring Necalli, though. Eventually, I'll also use Charlie, Karin, and Rainbow Mika. The returning veterans that I haven't used in this story yet are Ryu, Vega, Zangief, and Dhalsim.**


	24. Russian Wrestling 101!

**Russian Wrestling 101!**

The mountains of Russia were covered in a blanket of pure white snow. If one were to walk in it, they would barely make footprints. If you were to have a snowball fight, you wouldn't need to build the fortress. In the forest, the pine trees were the only things that had any green on them. All the rest of the trees were bare. It was still the perfect training condition for a certain Russian Wrestler. Standing at 7'0" tall, he wore little more than a pair of red wrestling trunks, a gold belt, red boots, and red-and-yellow wristbands. He had a beard, Mohawk, hairy chest, and hairy shins with his body covered in scars.

This wrestler was Zangief, and as usual, he found a bear to wrestle. This was a brown bear that stood at about 9'0" tall on its hind legs. It attacked the professional wrestler, only to wind up in a match with him. The bear was putting up a fight, which satisfied Zangief greatly. "Now this is a lot of fun! You're certainly a good wrestling partner!" he exclaimed. "Now I'll show you the power of the 'Red Cyclone'!" He got behind the bear, grabbed him in a Suplex hold, and slammed him down to the ground. After applying more pressure, the bear's head was buried into the ground. "I must thank you, comrade, for you have given me the chance to truly test out my newest technique: the 'Bolshoi Russian Suplex'!"

* * *

After a while, Zangief got back to Moscow and went to his favorite restaurant for a fresh bowl of Borscht Stew. He ordered his food and waited for it to come when a few children, who were fans and friends of his, came up to him. "Hey, children," he greeted. "What's the good word today?"

"Well," said one kid. "I've been getting all A's in my classes."

"I helped my dad put out a fire," said another. All of this news made Zangief even happier. He knew how important education and family values are.

"Nothing important happened with me," said a third kid, a young girl. "But I did hear something interesting that I wanted these two to hear at the same time you did."

"Oh? What might that be?" Zangief asked. The other two children were just as curious.

"I heard that there was this guy in the U.S. who calls himself the 'Silver Lantern'. His parole officer was a teammate of one of your opponents in the tournament. The teammate of that 'Abel' guy, I think."

"You must mean Logan." The girl nodded. "How powerful is this 'Silver Lantern'?"

"I don't know, but if he's got a reputation here in Moscow, then he must be tough." The kids looked at Zangief, who had a satisfied grin on his face.

"That's all I needed to hear, child. I'll finish my Borscht tonight, then tomorrow, I'll challenge this 'Silver Lantern' on American soil. As it turned out, I had just perfected a brand new move."

"Really?"

"What did you use it on?"

"I used it on one of the biggest bears in Mother Russia. I call it the 'Bolshoi Russian Suplex'. I'll be sure to ground this 'Silver Lantern' with it when I face him," the 'Red Cyclone' said confidently. _'And Logan, since Abel is still nowhere to be found, I'll use it on you as well.'_

* * *

As it just so happens, Nate was in St. Louis trying to get accustomed to it like he did Coast City. This was just so he could help Logan, Cammy, and Kiryo out if they needed it. He had no idea that Sharel was there as well looking for Kiryo and hoping that Cammy wasn't around. Another reason he was trying to get accustomed to St. Louis was because Logan and Green Arrow happened to be putting him in a situational awareness training exercise. Once again, Bluebird volunteered to help Logan, but retracted her offer when she figured out that it involved Nate. Besides that, he also told her that she needed a break. While this was going on, Cammy and Kiryo were out of town, which meant that while searching for Kiryo, Sharel picked up on Logan instead.

Right now, Nate was in an alley looking around and expecting Logan to ambush him. As he was floating around and looking, he didn't know that he tripped a laser wire, which triggered several computer-programmed crossbows to fire at him. He dodged as many as he could, and even blocked a few, but some of the arrows actually hit him. He got out of the alley as soon as possible, but another arrow hit the left shoulder and made him fall down. "C'mon, Nate, you can't be down already. You haven't even gotten to my part of the training," Logan said, walking up to him.

"Oh yeah?" asked Nate. "And what part is that?"

"Ambush sparring. Still, I'll give you credit. You lasted longer than you did last time. You've passed the 'Crook vs. Citizen' station as usual, avoided the hot tin roof, and got out of the alleyway with a smaller amount of damage than last time. I'll have to give you a B-." Nate shrugged his good shoulder and took out the arrow in the bad one. "By the way, that last arrow didn't come from a crossbow." This shocked Nate, so he looked at the rooftops and saw Green Arrow smirking and twirling an arrow in his fingers.

"So…Arrow fired that one?"

"Yep."

"He's a better shot than I gave him credit for."

"Well, what would you expect from someone who uses arrows like Batman uses gadgets? Just be happy that he didn't use that Boxing Glove Arrow on you. That hurts."

"Does that 'Arsenal' guy have Trick Arrows as well?"

"Are you kidding?" Green Arrow asked, joining the duo. "Arsenal was the original Speedy. To this day, the archery set he used as Speedy is still a part of his gear. Granted, he's got crossbows and a variety of lethal gadgets on him to fit his personality as a 'loose cannon'."

"So that's why Hal sent you in for the recording?"

"Yeah, because Arsenal's a hothead," Logan answered. He saw a plane coming in at the airport. He wouldn't pay any mind to it, but he felt a familiar Spirit Signature coming from it. He signaled to Green Arrow and Nate to go with him. He hopped on his bike, Nate flew, and GA got in the Arrow Car. They finally spotted Sharel and signaled for her to come along as well.

* * *

They got to the airport with the three guests wondering why Logan wanted to go there in the first place. Sharel was hoping that it was Kiryo coming back, but was reminded that he was training with Cammy. Besides, they would've been able to come back on the bikes they rode. They looked to the escalators coming down and saw Zangief looking around. "Ha-Ha! America! Almost as wonderful as Mother Russia!" he exclaimed before seeing the four people there to greet him. "At least they have a good welcoming committee, including a familiar face. How are you, Comrade Logan?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Zangief. I'd like you to meet Sharel, Green Arrow, and Nathaniel Dement," Logan greeted. "Arrow and I were just putting Nate through an environment awareness training session when you arrived."

"Well that might explain the arrow in his hind quarters." The statement surprised the others, so they looked and saw one of GA's arrows stuck in his rear end. He yanked it out, but it still hurt.

"Man, Arsenal would be laughing his own ass off. So what are you doing here, Zangief? If you're looking to have a rematch with Abel, we still can't find him. We even checked his home of France."

"Actually, I wasn't looking for Abel. I'm looking for someone named the 'Silver Lantern'. I was hoping to face him in a match."

"Oh. Well, in that case, they're both right here," Logan said, indicating to Nate and Sharel. Zangief looked at both of them with a look of scrutiny.

"You've got to be kidding me, Comrade," Zangief said. "I was under the impression that a Lantern had more muscle, like your friend John Stewart. Your body shape I can understand because it was built for speed. That's your style. I'm not so sure about these two."

"Well to be honest, Nate has been getting in a little better shape," said Green Arrow. "Sharel's still in better condition than he is, but he's getting there."

"I'm afraid your training methods aren't enough, Comrade Arrow. Come with me, Nathaniel. I'll make you into a fighter as tough as at least El Fuerte!"

"Who's El Fuerte?" Sharel asked Logan.

"El Fuerte's a Lucha Libre Wrestler from Mexico. He's also the owner of a Mexican Restaurant, but his 1-star food is not worth the 5-star price."

* * *

They got to a gym that Logan's friend Ted Grant/Wildcat co-owned with him. This was the one that Logan favored when it came to intense training. It also doubled as a ring for Professional Wrestling, Boxing, MMA matches, and local martial arts matches. The floors were metal, the balconies had chains to keep the audience members from falling in, and there were banners all over the place. Save for the English writing and the lack of bears and Cossack dancers, this was similar to an underground arena that Zangief trained at. The only type of event that Ted wouldn't allow there was a WWE match since he and the McMahon family (most notably Triple H) didn't get along very well.

Logan, Green Arrow, and Sharel were in the balcony while Nate and Zangief were in the ring itself. To his embarrassment, Nate was wearing a black leotard that was sleeveless and came down to his knees. Logan, GA, and Sharel couldn't hold in their laughter. Logan was even banging on the chain while Sharel was rolling on the floor. "I wonder what they're laughing at…" Zangief said.

"Geez, I was wondering that too," Nate said sarcastically, knowing that he looked ridiculous. "This is a nice training area you've got here, Logan, but don't you have one in your own den?"

"I was wondering about that myself," said Arrow.

"I do, but that's for casual or basic training. This is for intense training and conditioning," Logan said. "I normally only bring those here that can handle the intensity that this place can go at, so congratulations, Nate. You're the first exception." Nate groaned at the comment, but he knew not to tackle the intensity levels of the gym yet.

"So, what's the deal with this place anyways?"

"I call it an 'Intense Training Area' due to the fact that I can increase the training conditions to where I'm really drenched in sweat when I'm done. When Wildcat helped me set this place up, he added that specific feature just for me. Other than the training, I often have to play host to MMA matches, Martial Arts events, and even real Professional Wrestling matches. Because Ted is like a father figure to me, I don't get involved with the WWE due to his disagreements with Triple H."

"As Wildcat, Ted should've been one of the founding members of the Justice League in my opinion. He's the best fighter I've seen, even better than Batman. He's fought crime without the use of gadgets or powers."

"Yeah, but Ted's getting up there in his age. I'd like for him to enjoy the rest of his life without having to risk getting himself killed. It doesn't mean that I don't want to see the future generation of heroes learn from him. Goodness knows that despite the fact that she's a great fighter in her own right, Shannon could stand to learn from him. Batman and the streets can only do so much."

"Have you ever shown this place to Cammy or Kiryo?" Sharel asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did show it to Cammy. I have yet to show it to Kiryo because I've never gotten the chance. Due to both her brainwashing and training as one of Bison's Dolls, and as part of her training in Delta Red, she can definitely handle the conditions. My ex-girlfriend doesn't even know about this place."

"You mean you've never brought Soifon here?" asked Arrow. "I would've thought that you two were that close."

"It would've been a bad idea for a date, trust me. I didn't feel like training all of Squad 2, so I never showed her this place. Unlike with Soifon, Cammy and I decided to let each other in on our secrets. This was one of them."

"Unfortunately, I can't read the mind of a Soul Reaper, so I wouldn't be able to read her mind to tell you her secrets as well," Sharel said. While this was going on, Zangief was having Nate pick up a barbell that had a 25lb. weight on each end. The wrestler was making sure that he didn't use his ring. As Nate picked it up, he made sure to bend with his legs so he wouldn't hurt his back. Nate was trying a deadlift, which meant that while he had to pick it up, he didn't have to try to lift it over his head. The original 'Silver Lantern' brought it up to his chest about 10 times, something that Zangief didn't tell him to do, but was impressed with it anyways. "That's not bad."

"I'll say," said GA. "At this rate, though, he could pull a muscle if he gets too confident and forget his form. He just needs to build up enough muscle to give Zangief a good wrestling match. Like with Logan, his appearance should betray his strength."

"…C'mon, Nadeshiko," said a voice, coming from the hallway. "I could've sworn I heard someone here." Coming from the hallway were two women who had a good deal of muscle on them. One of them was a blonde girl with blue eyes, a blue leotard and mask, different-colored accents on her suit, and her hair in pigtails. The other was a brunette in a red and white leotard. Both were skimpy, as they were form-fitting with their butt-cheeks exposed.

"Hello, Nurse," Logan said, followed by Green Arrow letting out a wolf whistle.

"It's a good thing your girlfriend's not around to see this," said Arrow.

"The same goes with yours."

"Boys," Sharel deadpanned.

The blonde girl got looked around and got excited when she saw her idol. "Zangief!" she exclaimed, getting the 'Red Cyclone's' attention.

"Well, if it isn't Mika! How are you? I haven't seen you since before you got your sponsor!" said Zangief. "Come. Come. I'd like to introduce to you to my next challenger-in-training. Nathaniel, this is Mika Nanakawa. She's gotten to the Japan Pro Wrestling Circuit armed with strength and determination."

As Nate shook hands with (or was being shook by) Mika, something in Logan clicked. "I should've recognized that outfit from the get-go. That's Rainbow Mika, Zangief's biggest fan. I think I heard El Fuerte say something about her being his idol as well. From what I know of, he never got the chance to fight Zangief in the tournament because of Yoruichi."

"So what are Rainbow Mika's specialties?" Green Arrow asked.

"Well, a lot of her attacks often involve slamming her butt into her opponent. If she misses, though, it costs her a moment due to recoil. With Yamato Nadeshiko as her tag partner, she has even more combos at her disposal. I just don't know much about them."

"That's uh…That's quite a grip you got there, miss," Nate said, dizzy from the handshake.

"Sorry. By the way, I'd like you to meet my tag partner, Yamato Nadeshiko," said Mika, introducing the other female wrestler." Nate stuck his hand out to shake Nadeshiko's but she squeezed it instead, making him groan and Logan, Sharel, and Arrow wince.

"So much for all that training you've been going through," she said, immediately giving Nate a reason to dislike her.

"Nadeshiko!" hissed Mika. "That was kind of mean!"

"He's only been through endurance and field training. He has just started strength training," said Zangief. Nadeshiko scoffed and headed back to the locker room, making Mika hang her head in embarrassment. "Mika, maybe you should…"

"I know. I know. I'll be in the balcony." She climbed up the ladder and joined Logan and the others, still embarrassed at her partner's actions. "I'm sorry about Nadeshiko, guys. She doesn't play well with others."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You can't force two people to get along at the start," Logan said. "Goodness knows, I share a friendly rivalry with someone in New York that's still less than friendly."

"I'm glad you understand. By the way, I have to thank you and Green Arrow here for the comments you made when we got here."

"It's no problem, Ms. Nanakawa."

"Please," she said, unknowingly putting her hand on Logan's. "Call me 'Mika'."

"If you wish, Mika. Now, do you mind letting go of my hand? I do have a girlfriend." Mika looked down at her hand and immediately pulled it away from his, hiding her face in embarrassment. Secretly, though, she somewhat enjoyed it. They heard some grunting going on, so they looked to where Nate was at and saw that he had the barbell on his shoulders and walking. "That always hurts."

"Oh yeah," said Arrow.

"There you go, Comrade. Now you're getting it," Zangief said. "It takes determination and effort to build muscle, but it also takes skill. Keep it up and you'll build the muscle you need."

"I don't get why Nathaniel doesn't use his ring," Sharel said.

"Zangief's training him so he doesn't have to rely on it all the time."

"Green Arrow's right. There are times when Kyle, Simon, Hal, and John couldn't rely on their rings. Simon learned from the streets and John learned from the USMC. As for Kyle and Hal, I don't know," Logan added.

Nate sat the barbell down and decided to take a breather. "Good work, Comrade. If you keep this up, you'll be worthy to face me in no time. Take a rest. I'll have your next exercise out here in just a jiffy." After Zangief went to get something else, Nate sat down on a bench that was nearby. He had to think about what was happening. First, there was the environmental awareness training with Logan and Green Arrow. After that, he was strength training with Zangief, who was a bit muscle-minded. In the process, he, Logan, GA, and Sharel got to meet Rainbow Mika and Yamato Nadeshiko, the latter of which he immediately decided that he disliked.

Logan saw that something was on his mind, so he jumped over the chains on his part of the balcony and joined him on the bench. "Hey, what's on your mind?" he asked, scaring his parolee.

"I'm being trained by someone who uses more brawn than brains to fight him, and I had my hand squeezed by Rainbow Mika's tag partner and took an immediate dislike to her. Can this day get any crazier?"

"Considering that Zangief wrestles with bears in Russia to improve his skill, you can't be too surprised. The night before Halloween, I actually struggled against a fat man on a motorcycle. His name is Birdie and he's from Britain like Cammy, but much more unpleasant to look at. He actually turned out to be smarter than Rufus, but because he was so big, he was slow, but only slightly faster than Hugo. He actually about tore my arm off when I grabbed the back of his bike with my chain. It was a good thing Cammy and Kiryo were there as well."

"How'd you beat him?" Nate asked.

"We stuck a bottle of Jack Daniels in his back pocket after he slammed his head into a lamppost and lit it on fire." While that did give the two a good laugh, it did make Nate remember that not all heroes can (or have to) rely on their best tools all the time. He knew that among Logan's gadgets, a bottle of Jack Daniels wasn't one of them.

"This was before we dealt with Scarecrow, right? It must've happened when Sharel, Todd, and I were at the orphanage for that Halloween party."

"You were. I got your picture before I went to bed and had the nightmare that got us to go after Crane in the first place. But back to the topic at hand, don't let your meeting with Nadeshiko get to you. If I can take Birdie nearly ripping my arm out of its socket, you can take her." As the conversation was going on, Zangief was rolling out a practice dummy. "It looks like you'll be wrestling Bob next."

"Who's Bob?"

"He's the dummy. I often use him to improve my punching and kicking," Logan said.

"That's basically what a practice dummy is used for, Comrades," said Zangief. "Allow me to demonstrate what you're going to do." While Nate and Sharel were looking in wonder, Logan, Mika, and Green Arrow smirked. Zangief aggressively picked up the dummy and slammed it on the ground. After setting the dummy back up on its base, the 'Red Cyclone' looked towards his pupil. "Alright, Nathaniel, now it's your turn."

Nate nodded and charged for the dummy. To Logan's surprise, he picked it up with all the strength he could muster. However, when he tried to slam it on its back like Zangief did, the weight proved to be too much and it pinned him down. Zangief picked the dummy off of Nate while Logan got him back on his feet. "This is why this place is my intense training facility. Those dummies are usually loaded with either sand or water. That one there is loaded with both. When that happens, the sand can get pretty dense due to absorbing the water, which increases the weight," Logan explained.

"Well…that explains a lot. How are you able to move it?" asked Nate.

"That's simple. I use my legs. You also need to stretch out, Nate." The Silver Lantern face-palmed; he knew he forgot something. "At least you're getting heavier. Pretty soon, you'll be able to give Zangief his challenge."

"Thanks for the reassurance." Logan and Green Arrow smirked, noting the sarcastic tone that Nate took with them. After taking the time to stretch out, Nate began doing a series of push-ups. To the surprise of the others, he wasn't struggling as much as they thought he would. He did break even more of a sweat after doing 25, though, which was Logan's usual number. After taking a breather, he did 25 sit-ups, something he needed the Assassin's help with. He struggled more with this one, but he at least managed to get through them.

"Feeling better?"

"I'm feeling tired…"

"Muscle workouts will do that for you, Comrade," said Zangief. "Take a break. We'll continue tomorrow." Nate nodded and stood up, stumbling a little due to his muscles being strained. This was going to be a long while.

* * *

Later, in the nighttime, Logan had set Nate and Sharel up a room in one of his safe houses, due mainly to still not trusting Nate with the location of his hideout. He also knew he could trust Sharel not to retrieve it. He set another safe house up for Green Arrow, which accommodated the Emerald Archer well. He offered one for Zangief, Mika, and Nadeshiko, but they turned down his offer, having already paid for hotel rooms. The rooms were cozy and the beds were comfortable, but neither one of the Silver Lanterns could sleep.

Nate noticed that Sharel wasn't sleeping in her hair…or even in the room at the moment. With a bit of effort, he got up and went outside. He saw his friend looking at the moon and stars and immediately figured out why she couldn't get any sleep, which made him a little jealous despite believing that it was friendly flirting. He still couldn't figure out whether or not she was merely having fun with Kiryo or if he truly was the object of her affections. "Hey, Sharel," he said, getting her attention. "What are you doing out here?"

"I came here looking for Kiryo, but I couldn't find him. After sensing around, I found out that he's with Cammy training. No doubt he's trying to perfect his 'Spiral Arrow'," she said. "I heard that he actually did a good job without Logan and Cammy helping him; rather, he got help from a ninja from Metro City while Logan was out cold."

"Logan told me about that one. No doubt he's proud of him. He also told me about Birdie and his attack on St. Louis while we were at the Halloween party. If your warping powers allow you to be transported to Kiryo's location, how come you haven't done it yet?"

"I could, but then I'd be distracting him from his training. Besides, Cammy would no doubt kill me. I'm no match for an angry parental figure. But enough about my reason, why are you out here?"

"I can't sleep," he said, getting Sharel to cock an eyebrow. "I'm dreading my next training session. Sure, Logan's there to help, but you, Green Arrow, and Mika aren't helping much. No offense."

"No offense taken, but why don't you think I'm helping much?"

"All you guys do is stand behind the chains and watch, even when I got my hand crunched by Nadeshiko, all you guys did was cringe."

"At least we didn't laugh or poke fun at you…well, except for your outfit." Sharel watched as Nate tried to move back to their room, his muscles still feeling the pain from the workout. She put her hand on his shoulder and started to heal the aching muscles, causing Nate to feel less pain. "There you go, Nathaniel. Now you won't have any pain before your next workout," she said.

"Didn't you use the same technique on Logan after that 'Scorpion' guy burned his throat through his chain?"

"I used it on him again while he and the 'Wind Master' Rashid fought Deathstroke the Terminator. Those two make a pretty good team. Now let's get to bed. I'm starting to have hopes that Kiryo's doing just fine." Nate nodded as the two Silver Lanterns went back into their room.

* * *

The next morning, everyone arrived back at the training facility. True to what he told Sharel last night, Nate was nervous about this one. To the surprise of Logan and the others, Nadeshiko decided to watch this one. They were still upset with her over what she did to Nate's hand and pride, but Nate himself was more angry than upset, still holding a dislike for her. Luckily, he didn't take it out on Mika or Zangief. "Welcome, Comrades!" Zangief greeted. He observed that Nate was stretching out this time around. "I see that the training from yesterday hasn't worn off yet. That's good."

"So what's the workout this time?" Nate asked.

"The workout this time is what we did last time. However, I added a Chest Press and a Shoulder Press to the mix." While Nate was doing his workout with Zangief's help/encouragement, Logan was also doing his own training in the facility. Arrow and Sharel were keeping an eye on Nate's workout while Mika was watching Logan's training with amazement. Naturally, Nadeshiko, being the opposite of Mika in terms of personality, couldn't have cared less. Nate got done with the Chest Press and was getting started on the Shoulder Press. He did surprisingly well on both of them.

Mika watched Logan with amazement, impressed that he's managed to climb to the ceiling. "That's incredible…" she said, impressed with his conditioning. This got Green Arrow's attention. "Still, I have to wonder why Logan would need a place with a ceiling that high."

"Well, there are two reasons: One of which is that he plays host to special events here, such as circus shows, UFC matches, and real wrestling events that aren't WWE. The second reason is what you're about to see," Arrow said. "Hey, Zangief! If I act as Nate's spotter, can you move the dummy to the center ring?"

"Sure thing, Comrade Arrow!" GA took Zangief's spot as Nate's spotter while he went to get the dummy. After Zangief rolled it out, Zangief looked above and saw that Logan could barely be spotted due to being at the top of the chain. "Okay, Comrade Logan! You can do your little skydive now!"

After hearing that, Logan pulled off the blindfold he was wearing and saw that he was at the top. He looked down and saw that he was pretty high from the floor. Since he wasn't on a mission, this made him nervous due to being afraid of heights. He took a deep breath, did one last pull-up on the chain, planted his feet on the ceiling, and let go, shoving off and getting into his 'Leap of Faith' diving pose. "Skydive Assault!" he shouted, surprising the others, barring Arrow and Zangief. Mika and Sharel looked at the Assassin with concern, but were surprised when he made a dent in the floor underneath the dummy that laid in it.

Logan wiped the sweat off of his brow and had a look at Nate, silently telling him to continue with his workout. "So what kind of an attack was that?" Nate asked Arrow.

"That attack was the result of combining Spirit Energy, heights, your own power, and conquering your own fears. In this case, it's Logan's fear of heights," said the archer, making Nate look at his parole officer in astonishment. "If I were you, I'd try using your own strength and trying to find a way to conquer your fears." Nate nodded and channeled more of his strength into the workout, determined to train so he wouldn't have to rely on his ring all the time.

* * *

After a while, Nate had finished his workout, Green Arrow being the spotter for the remainder of the time. He was more confident than he was before, but he was still a little nervous when it came time for his wrestling match against Zangief. Logan had managed to fix the dent he made from his 'Skydive Assault' earlier, so the floor was even again, which meant no one would get hurt. At Zangief's request, after seeing the amount of muscle built up from the workout despite Nate only doing it for two days, Logan pushed a couple of buttons. The first one brought up some turnbuckles and the ropes connecting them. The second one brought down a chain-link cage.

Green Arrow acted as the referee for this match with Logan and the girls watching. "Ladies and Logan!" he began, noting the fact that Logan was the only male in the balcony, and also to be comical. "For tonight's event, we have, standing at 6'1" and weighing in at a new weight in which we haven't figured out yet, the original Silver Lantern: Nathaniel Dement!" Sharel used her power to pull a fanfare box out of nowhere and pushed a button, making the sound of applause. "Tonight, he will fight our other special guest. Standing at 7'0" and weighing in at 400 lbs. of pure muscle and the pride of his home country of Russia, as seen with the scars, I give you the 'Red Cyclone': Zangief!"

As Sharel hit the applause button again, Mika hit the bell once GA got out of the cage. Nate took a deep breath and got into a stance, bearing a serious look on his face. Sharel had made him wear contacts for this so his glasses wouldn't get broken. "That's the look you need, Comrade!" Zangief said, excited that he'd finally get his match. "Give me your best trash talk!"

"Oh boy," Sharel said.

"No kidding," added Logan. "Nate doesn't even know how to trash talk."

"You want my best trash talk?" Nate asked, getting a nod from Zangief. "Okay. You're about to have leather shoes going where the sun don't shine."

"That's kind of weak, Nathaniel, but that will do. Now it's my turn. Your mother makes bad Borscht!" Now, Nate was mad. He charged for Zangief, who grappled him and performed a 'Spinning Pile Driver', slamming Nate's head into the ground. Nate tried to trip him up, but the 'Red Cyclone' jumped out of the way. As he got up, Zangief tried to punch the Silver Lantern. However, he got resourceful, parrying the punch, and kicking him in the face. Nate's next attack was an attempt to grab Zangief and slam him to the ground. However, the grabbing part didn't go so well, as Zangief broke free from it.

The Russian Wrestler grabbed Nate, flipped him upside-down while jumping, and slammed him face-first into the ground again. Nate retaliated by horse-kicking Zangief in the chest, grabbing him, and throwing him to the other side of the ring. He followed this up by running towards him, putting him in a headlock, and slamming him down. Zangief grabbed Nate, threw him off of him, and made him go towards a turnbuckle. As the Silver Lantern was coming back, Zangief jumped in the air and kicked him with both of his feet. To his shock and joy, Nate jumped back up on his feet.

Zangief spun in a tornado similar to his 'Spinning Clothesline', but much faster. This created a vacuum effect that caused Nate to be sucked into the punches, which he blocked. Zangief decided that now was a good time to try out his new move. He got behind Nate and grabbed him in a Suplex, bending backwards to slam him head-first into the floor. He put more power behind it until Nate was completely in the ground, to the shock of the others, save for Nadeshiko and Mika. "What the hell kind of Suplex was that?" Logan asked.

"That was the new move I was talking about, Comrade!" Zangief said. "I call it the 'Bolshoi Russian Suplex'! It's bound to take down anyone!"

"I wouldn't count Nate out just yet!" Logan's statement got the wrestlers to look at Nate's spot and see that he was getting back up. "It looks to me like that dog's still got some bite left in him!"

"So you're still standing, eh? You've gotten to be a tough one, that's for sure!" Zangief charged for his opponent, but Nate had a different plan. He grabbed Zangief, picked him up, and slammed him to the ground, pinning him down in the process. As he struggled to hold him, Green Arrow did the countdown.

"1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10!" he shouted. "It's over! The winner is…Nathaniel Dement!" While Mika and Nadeshiko were shocked, Logan and Sharel cheered. Logan knew that the only other three people to have beaten Zangief were Abel, Ryu, and Sagat. He had yet to face the 'Red Cyclone' himself. "Way to go, kid. You earned that win."

"Thanks," Nate said, catching his breath. He felt a pat on his back, so he looked and saw that Zangief had a smile on his face.

"I even did my best and you still won fair and square," he said as Logan raised the cage and lowered the turnbuckles. "It appears my new technique could still use some fine-tuning. After that, you're next, Logan."

"Don't worry. I know a few tricks of my own," Logan said with a smirk. He shook hands with Zangief before the latter parted for his flight back to Moscow. "You did great, Nate. I guess training with Zangief counts as intense training."

"I guess so," Nate said. "I think I'll find a way to maintain this shape. If I come across some form of trouble, I might need the extra strength."

"That's probably a good idea."

CHAPTER 24 END

* * *

**Okay, so it's been a while since I had a chapter with Nate as the central protagonist. As you know, I brought in Zangief, R. Mika, and Nadeshiko so as to include more **_**Street Fighter**_** characters. I also brought in Green Arrow because I haven't used him since the Two-Face chapter. The next chapter is going to be a Christmas chapter and my 25****th**** one in this story. I find that to be fitting to be honest.**


	25. Holly Jolly Hijinks!

**Okay, Ladies and Gents, my Microsoft Word on my computer wasn't working, so I thought I would try the version on the phone. This is the first time I have done a document on a mobile device, so please bear with me. Consider it a loophole if you will. It'll be saved on my Microsoft account, so I can download from my email and post it on FFN. **

**It's that time of year again, so it's time for Christmas chapters. This is my favorite annual tradition because I get to work on different series and make a Christmas chapter as a present for you guys. As a Pentecostal Christian, another reason why I love Christmas is because it's the birthday of Jesus Christ. If I have kids, I'll still entertain them with the whole Santa Claus thing. In this chapter, I'm going to bring in three DC characters I haven't fully used yet, including the Flash (I used the Arrow-verse one and Earth-2's, not the mainstream one). For the **_**Bleach **_**fans, I'm also bringing in two fan favorites that I'm sure you've been waiting for this whole time.**

* * *

**Holly Jolly Hijinks!**

Karakura Town had a festive air around it. All the houses and districts had Christmas decorations adorning them, ranging from lights to wreaths. As usual, the children, and even some of the adults, we're having snowball fights. There were also ice skaters out and about. Naturally, Keigo Asano was looking like a goofball while Tatsuki and the others were laughing at him. This usually made him pout like a little kid. It got worse for him when an actual kid threw a snowball at him when he was on his feet.

Ichigo and Rukia decided to spend Christmas at the _Kurosaki_ _Clinic_ this year as opposed to the _Black Crescent._ The reason was so Ichigo could spend time with his family. Byakuya actually respected this, as much as he couldn't stand him sometimes. Because Ichigo and Rukia were so close to the point where Rukia could be considered a sister to Yuzu and Karin, he decided to let Rukia spend Christmas with them. Ichigo had on a green ugly sweater with reindeer and snowflakes on it, khaki pants, and his orange hair in its usual mess. Rukia had on a red version of Ichigo's sweater and a brown long skirt. Her hair was in its bob cut.

Right now, to the shock of the others, Isshin decided to make Christmas dinner while Ichigo and his sisters, with Rukia's help, finished up the Christmas tree. Ichigo, Rukia, and Karin got the garland and ornaments while Yuzu was searching for the star. Isshin was singing 'Jingle Bells', but he was way off key, his singing stunk so bad that it got on Yuzu's nerves, and he got some of the words wrong, all of which irritated Ichigo and Karin. It didn't help much that he was singing too loud either. "Doesn't dad know when to quit? He's bugging the hell out of me," Karin said.

"No worries," said Ichigo. "I'll deal with him." The girls got curious, so they looked and saw that Ichigo got a bullhorn. He put earplugs in, held it to the elder Kurosaki's ear, and pushed the button hard, holding it down as well. This shocked Isshin to the point where he fell to the ground with his heart rate going up. "Maybe that'll teach you not to screw up 'Jingle Bells'."

"Ichigo, look!" Yuzu said excitedly, holding the aforementioned tree-topper. "I found the star!"

"That's great, Yuzu." Ichigo picked up his little sister and put her on his shoulders. She put the star on top of the tree and plugged it into the lights, making it come on like the rest of the tree. The Kurosaki siblings and Rukia were delighted with their work. Isshin, though, was about to try getting even with his son, but saw that the tree was finished.

Being the buffoon he is, Isshin gathered his children and Rukia into a big hug, tearing up in the process. "Kids, I can't tell you how proud I am of you!" he said before going to a poster of a beautiful woman. "Oh Masaki, if only you could see the fantastic job our children have done decorating our tree!"

"Hey, Ichigo," Rukia said. "Maybe we should call Logan. We haven't heard from him since the S.I.N. Tournament."

"Yeah, good idea," said the Substitute Soul Reaper, who headed for the phone.

* * *

St. Louis was also decorated for Christmas. The wreaths, garland, and mistletoe were adorning the entire city, but so was the snow. As it was nighttime there, there wasn't much going on save for people shopping. However, Logan wasn't doing much of that. Decked out in his weatherproof jacket and gloves, he was on the rooftops looking around, as if he was searching for a criminal…which is what he was doing. "Dagnabbit, how could I lose him? He's hard to miss for crying out loud!" he exclaimed, frustrated that he couldn't catch his target. Suddenly, his cell phone rang, so he looked and saw that it was a number he hadn't seen in a while. "Hello?"

"_Merry Christmas, Logan!"_ he heard from the other end of the line. The Assassin immediately figured out that it was the Kurosaki family and Rukia. He was definitely glad to hear from them. _"How's it going?"_ Ichigo asked.

"It's going well, guys…Well, except for the fact that I didn't exactly get the day off."

"_How come?"_ asked Rukia. _"And why does it sound like you're outside?"_

"I am outside. A punk named Birdie has been causing trouble here. Unfortunately, he was able to get away from the cops before I could catch up. It's irritating the crap out of me knowing that this guy can hide so easily."

"_Well, do you need me to help?"_ Ichigo asked.

"Thanks for the offer, Ichigo, but I'll be alright. You guys just enjoy time with your family. It was good to hear from you again."

"_I agree. Well, don't work too hard. Cammy's going to want you around as much as possible. Talk to you later," _said Ichigo.

"_Bye, Logan!"_ the girls said.

"Talk to you later, guys. Merry Christmas," Logan said before hanging up. _'It was nice to hear from them after a while. Now I have to find that fat bastard Birdie.'_ Suddenly, he heard some rapid running coming up behind him. He looked behind him and saw a red streak heading his way. It stopped to reveal the Flash. This wasn't the alternate universe one he met, nor was it the one from the universe that Nate was from. This Flash had on the yellow boots, yellow gloves, and protruding lightning bolts coming from his ears. "It's a good thing you're not Superman or you'd have to lose the cape. What are you doing here, Barry?"

"Well, since I don't have a family to spend Christmas with, and I gave the orphans presents this year, I thought I'd see what you were up to," Flash said.

"I thought you and Iris were going steady."

"I wish. I bet you can't imagine how many times I tried to ask her out on a date. I even revealed my secret identity to her. At least she hasn't revealed who I am yet."

"I suppose that is a start. It shows that she trusts you."

"Yeah, I guess. But enough about that, why aren't you spending Christmas with your family?"

"Unfortunately, as you well know, vigilantes don't get much of a break." Logan pulled up Birdie's picture on his cell phone. "This guy's name is Birdie, and he's been causing quite a bit of trouble lately. Unfortunately, he's been able to elude the police before I even show up. How he does it, I'll never know." As Flash was observing the picture, he was shocked at how Birdie could get away so easily as well. They heard an alarm go off, so they ran as fast as they could to the source. Flash was both surprised and impressed with Logan's 'Flash Step' that he decided to try and keep up.

* * *

They got to the source of the alarm, which was a convenience store, and saw that Birdie was indeed there. He was carrying a sack and laughing as he was getting away. "Hey look, Flash! It's Santa Claus!" Logan exclaimed, getting the punk's attention. "I wonder where his reindeer are at..."

"I'm glad you're here, Kringle," said Flash. "I've been trying to get a poor kid a choo-choo train for quite some time now."

"If you two think you can make fun of me and get away with it, you have another thing coming!" Birdie exclaimed. As Flash and Logan jumped down, Birdie put the bag down and started swinging his chain. He attacked the duo with his chain and made them dodge. After that, the Scarlet Speedster ran towards Birdie and began punching him quickly and repeatedly. Birdie punched him back and made him slide across the road. Logan attacked with a dive kick on Birdie's face. Logan threw a Trick Knife at Birdie's feet, but the punk's vision was clear enough that he dodged it. It turned out to be super glue, which meant that had Birdie not jumped, he would've been caught.

Flash got back up and decided to use a move that he was sure to catch both of them off guard. After vibrating all of his molecules, he kicked up his speed to the point where it would seem like he's invisible when he moves. He slammed Birdie in the face, started running around the world, came back from behind Logan again, punched Birdie again, jumped into the air, and punched him back down. "How in blue blazes did you do that?" Logan asked.

"That's simple. I used the 'Speed Force'. I can't use too much of it, though. If I did, I have a good chance of going back in time and messing with the timeline." They heard some groaning, so they saw that Birdie had gotten back up. "Aw man! Why can't he just stay down?" Flash asked.

"You got me on that one." They saw that the Briton had a chili pepper in his hand and an angry look on his face. "Okay, what's with the pepper?" Birdie just grinned, ate it, and turned red with fire burning out of his mouth. Birdie combed his hair with his switchblade comb and headbutted Logan before he could react. Flash had already dodged, but the Assassin wasn't so lucky. Logan was sent back a distance before Birdie grabbed him with his chains, made like he was using a jump rope, wound up by spinning Logan several times, and then slamming him to the ground. As Logan still held a strong spite for the cold, his injuries were worse than they normally would be. Flash tried to run up and punch Birdie, but he grabbed him, headbutted him a couple of times, and slammed him on a building. Birdie then laughed as he walked away with what was in his bag.

After Birdie had gotten away, Logan contemplated tracking him down some more, but he decided that getting Flash somewhere to rest up was more important. He picked up the Scarlet Speedster and walked over to a lid that had access to the tunnel leading to his hideout. _'Hang on, Barry. After I get you settled in and me warmed up, I'm going to go after that fat bastard again,'_ he thought.

* * *

Back at the hideout, Chun-Li and Kiryo were sitting at the table waiting to try out Cammy's cooking. As Logan was the only one to taste it, Chun-Li had some assurance that it would taste good. It wasn't enough, though, since she and Kiryo were both nervous. Cammy was slightly nervous as well since she and Logan took turns cooking and Kiryo usually cooked during their training sessions. Chun-Li was wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck and her denim jeans while Kiryo merely wore a long-sleeved shirt and his usual black pants. As for Cammy, she was wearing one of Logan's white sweaters and a pair of sweatpants. The timer went off and that's when Chun-Li and Kiryo decided to brace themselves. The future Assassin did volunteer to be Cammy's taste-tester, so he was responsible for anything that would happen to him.

Cammy took out what was in the oven, which was a Honey Baked Ham. She cut off a slice and divided it into four portions: one for herself, Chun-Li, Kiryo, and Logan. She ate her piece and thought it was good. To get the input of the others, she took them their pieces and had them try it out. Chun-Li chewed hers to try it out and immediately brightened up. "Cammy, that's the best ham I've had in a long time!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you, Chun-Li," said Cammy. "I thought it was just Logan who liked my cooking."

"If anyone should be ashamed of their cooking, it's El Fuerte. He tried to get me and Logan to try a new Fish Sauce that he made. It made Mr. Hakan sick."

"Then I guess we need to show this 'El Fuerte' guy how to cook. This ham is great, Cammy," said Kiryo after eating his piece. "On second thought, if he's as bad as you say he is, then letting him near any food is a bad idea." As the girls chuckled at that, they heard the door open. They looked and saw Logan carrying the Flash on his shoulder. "What in the world happened to you, Logan?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was Birdie? That guy ate a chili pepper, slammed me with his head, and spun me around with his chains like he was a kid in school using a jump rope," Logan explained. "He did even more damage to the Flash here."

"Don't worry, Darling. We'll have you two all patched up and warmed up in a jiffy. In the meantime, have a piece of ham," said Cammy.

"Hey, thanks, Baby Doll. You're the best." Cammy smiled at the compliment as the boys carefully put Barry on the couch. Logan had his piece of ham while Cammy had hers. He kissed her on the cheek as a compliment. "By the way, guess who called me earlier before Flash arrived here."

"Who?" Chun-Li asked.

"The Kurosaki Family. Ichigo called from Isshin's house and had me on speakerphone."

"That's right. We haven't heard from them since you two and Ryu destroyed Seth. Was Rukia with them?"

"Yes, she was. It sounded to me like they were having a good time, but I bet Ichigo and his dad had one of their usual 'bonding rituals'."

"Bonding ritual?" asked Kiryo.

"What Logan means is that Ichigo and his father Isshin often get into fights. It's usually Isshin that starts it," Cammy explained.

"If anything, it helps Ichigo keep on his toes," Logan said after taking a sip of hot chocolate. "Isshin's a little nuts. In fact, while I was just starting my relationship with Soifon, I wound up in the Kurosaki Clinic because of Cloak giving me a concussion. The old goat even interrupted an intimate moment, but I let him know that if he doesn't cut it out, then the doctor would become the patient."

"Did you have to bring Soifon in this?" Chun-Li asked with a frown on her face.

"Hey, it's Christmas Time. I'm sure you can avoid wanting to choke her to death during the Season." Suddenly, an alarm went off. "Now what?"

"Isn't that the major crisis alarm?" Kiryo asked.

"Yep, and that means that Birdie will have to wait. Let's see what kind of trouble we're dealing with here...Mass Arson? But the only one we know who could cause that is Scorpion and I'm fairly certain he wouldn't do that. I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to go check it out."

"I'll come with. I know how much you hate the cold."

"Thanks for the offer, Kiryo, but I'm afraid that the Flash has a tendency to flirt with pretty girls. You need to make sure he doesn't do that with Cammy and Chun-Li. Besides, I'm sure the fires will keep me warm," Logan said with a smirk. He put his coat and gloves back on and headed back outside to check out the problem.

* * *

When Logan got out of the tunnel, he jumped to the top of the nearest building to look for any fires that were going on. It didn't take him long to find them, as he saw a bunch of smoke rising from a group of business buildings. He used his 'Flash Step' to get there as quickly as possible so he could take care of the situation. After this, he was going to go after Birdie again. The Assassin looked for the source of the fires and found it flying around in the air. This source was a man wearing a silver full-body suit wielding a flamethrower attached to his jetpack, which had wings visible on the sides. The man's helmet had eyes that had the look of an insect on it.

Logan scanned this man to get some sort of info on him. It didn't take long for his cell phone to display the villain's profile. "Ted Carson, better known as Firefly. His most well-known crime is Mass Arson. 99% of his body's covered in burns? That's not good." He heard the maniacal laughing and it was getting on his nerves. He took out a Trick Knife and charged it with 'Chidori' before firing it at Carson at full force. Firefly noticed it, however, and turned his flamethrower to the knife, incinerating it and making it explode. "Today is not my day," Logan said after seeing what happened. Carson swooped down at Logan and fired the flamethrower at him, forcing the Assassin to run.

Due primarily to the cold weather, Carson was able to keep up with him. "Merry Christmas, people of St. Louis! 3rd degree burns for everybody!" he exclaimed while chasing Logan. Suddenly, Firefly felt a strong gust of wind hit him into a building. Logan looked and saw a blonde girl wearing a blue leotard with a red cape, red knee-high boots, and the 'S' shield on her chest. As she was using this 'Super Breath' to put out the fires, Firefly came after her again. Logan 'Flash Stepped' and tackled Carson, making him lose balance and plummet down, causing the citizens to scatter around. "You hero types really know how to ruin my day."

"You think you're having a bad day, Carson?" Logan asked as he punched him. "You're ruining Christmas for everyone!" At this, Firefly kicked Logan off and to the ground. "And on top of that, I still have to catch another criminal that knocked me and the Flash out earlier, so he's on Santa's 'Naughty' list as well!"

"Then I guess I'll finish what he started!" Firefly aimed his flamethrower at Logan again, but he was kicked to the side. Logan saw another sight that he was, for once, happy to see: Soifon.

"Thanks for the help."

"It's no problem," she said, blushing at Logan's 'thank you'. The other girl levitated down and joined them, allowing Soifon to see the 'S' shield. "Are you Supergirl?" she asked, getting a nod from the heroine. "It's nice to finally meet a member of Superman's family, isn't it, Logan?"

"Actually, Logan's worked with two other members of my cousin's team. Unfortunately, one of them was that clone of his."

"I'm going to guess that you and Connor don't exactly get along very well," said Logan.

"He's a clone. And Kryptonians look down on clones. I even gave him the name 'Kon-El'. The 'Kon' part is Kryptonian for 'Abomination'."

"Who was the other one you worked with, Logan?" Soifon asked.

"It was Steel. Sharel and I also met the 'Wind Master' Rashid that day." Firefly burst out of the snow he was in and was angered. He flew into the air and fired his flamethrower at the three of them, but Supergirl used her 'Super Breath' again and collided with it. Soifon and Logan took that cue to attack Firefly from both sides. As neither side let up, Logan used his Parkour-running ability to run on the wall and jump towards the pyromaniac. He latched on, but Carson took him on another flight, causing Soifon to miss her timing. She didn't get angry with Logan. She only hoped that he'd be safe.

Firefly was getting frustrated about not being able to get the Assassin off this time, so he flew up into the air as Logan was trying to get into the circuitry of the jetpack. As they got further into the clouds, Soifon got worried. Supergirl was on the job to make sure Logan didn't get killed. As it got colder for the Assassin, he was unable to get the hull open, mainly due to the cold weather. It caused him to let go and fall. Supergirl caught him and gently brought him to the ground. Logan opened his eyes and saw Supergirl's light blue ones. "I can't have you killed without teaming up with my cat, now can I?" she asked with a smirk.

"Thanks. As you probably figured out, I don't do so hot in the cold."

"Well let's see if I can do anything about that!" Firefly shouted, diving down from the sky. He fired the flamethrower at the two of them as Soifon was rushing to attack him, but Supergirl flew into the flames this time. As she got into Carson's face, he tried to react by backing away. The Girl of Steel reeled her fist back and punched the pyromaniac into a building. Unlucky for her, though, he had a surprise ready for her and anyone else in her team. As Supergirl charged for him again, he pulled out a gun and fired a bullet in her shoulder. She noted that it hurt worse than it should have. "Kryptonite bullet, Supergirl! A little something I stole from Lex Luthor! It looks like my two main problems are taken care of! Now if you don't mind, I'm going to ruin Christmas for someone else!"

As Firefly left, Logan ran up to his new ally and got a pair of tweezers out. Soifon had joined them as well. "Hang on, Supergirl," she said. "Logan's going to get that bullet out for you." She was as afraid for Supergirl's life as Supergirl herself was. Luckily, Firefly's pyromania had heated up the tweezers so they would be more effective.

"This is going to hurt," he said.

"Not as bad as that bullet, I'm sure." As he dug into her shoulder, he did it more carefully than how he would himself. In the process, he began to explain why the bullet hurt so much.

"The reason it's affecting you more than it should is because Luthor's known for utilizing a lot of Kryptonite, which especially works on Kryptonians. That clone of Superman's you despise? Kon-El? He's affected by it too, but he's half-Kryptonian, half-human, which means that it doesn't hurt him as much." He took the bullet out and looked at it.

"Yep. That's Kryptonite alright." Logan nodded, crushed the bullet while using 'Chidori', and helped Supergirl up to her feet. "After that, I'm not sure I can go on after him. And you can't fly, so what'll we do?"

"How about I put you three out of your misery?" said a cockney voice. They looked and saw Birdie swinging his chain around. "It'll be fun."

"How about I kick your ass and force the location of all that eggnog you stole earlier out of your big mouth instead, Birdie? That'll be a lot more fun!" Logan exclaimed.

"Logan!" Soifon hissed. "We still have to worry about Firefly!"

"I know that, but Birdie's been a pain in mine and Flash's asses today. Any time he gets away, I can't track him."

"Then let me deal with him and you go after Firefly!" This got Logan's attention. "I'd hate to put you in danger, I really do. But we have to make sure Firefly is taken care of as soon as possible and Supergirl's still in no condition to do anything."

After thinking it through for a minute, Logan surprised Soifon with a hug, albeit reluctantly. "You do have a point, Soifon. I'll take on Firefly, but I'll have to call the hideout to see if Flash is back on his feet. If not, then I'll have no other choice but to bring in Kiryo if Supergirl's not better."

"I knew you'd see it my way."

"Oh, and one more thing," he said, getting her attention. "Merry Christmas." As he left to chase after Carson, Soifon stood there shocked for a minute before smiling.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Logan," she said before turning to Birdie. "As for you, Birdie, you're getting your present early!"

"Oh? And what would that be?" he asked.

"As Logan would put it, a good old-fashioned ass-whooping! It's obvious you're long overdue!" Birdie just grinned and swung his chain around before attempting to hit the Second Squad Captain with it. She 'Flash Stepped' towards him and struck him in the chest. With all her might, she got behind him and tossed the fat man over her shoulder before kicking him in the back. After he got up, she continued her assault on him. All this time, she couldn't figure out why she couldn't knock him down again, as he stood his ground. "I don't get it! Why won't you lie down?"

"Because I'm about to have my fun with ya!" Birdie said as he ate another pepper. Like last time, it made him red and caused fire to come out of his mouth, to the shock of the girls. Like with Logan, he combed his hair, head butted Soifon, caught her in his chains, and jump-roped her before slamming her to the ground. "Let's do it again!"

"You want to try it again?" said Supergirl, who was back on her feet. "Then try it with me, you big bully!" Soifon noted that the blonde was still on the ground and not taking the traditional 'Superman Stance', which made her come to the conclusion that she was still recovering from the Kryptonite bullet. This time, Birdie jumped up and kicked the Girl of Steel in the face. She grabbed his ankle, though, and threw him behind her, causing the ground to shake due to Birdie's massive weight. She ran up to him, jumped up, and kicked the fat man in the face as well. She delivered a strong right hook and made him dizzy before using what energy she had to knock him down with a 'Super Breath', rendering him knocked out. "That should teach you not to mess with my new friends, Birdie," she said.

Soifon helped Supergirl sit down so she won't hurt herself any more than she had to. "I can see why Logan would have trouble with him," said the Captain. "Especially in this weather. If it was any other time, Birdie would just be a speed bump." The Kryptonian giggled in response.

* * *

Meanwhile, Logan was running to catch up to Firefly. He had to make this as quick as possible since he wanted to get back home for Christmas with Cammy, Chun-Li, Kiryo, and Oreo. They knew he hated working on Christmas, but Firefly would kill everyone in St. Louis if he didn't do something. Since Supergirl and Soifon were out of commission, even though he sensed that she fought Birdie and won, he had to get someone else to help. He got his phone out and called the house. _"Hello?"_ Cammy asked, answering on the other end of the line.

"Cammy, it's Logan. Supergirl's in town, but Firefly shot her in the arm with a Kryptonite bullet. Soifon's keeping her company. She did manage to beat Birdie, but it cost her what little energy she regained," he said. "Is Flash back on his feet?"

_"As a matter of fact, he's waking up now. For once, I'm glad Soifon was there. Supergirl didn't try to flirt with you, did she?"_

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need Flash and Kiryo to get here as soon as possible. I need them to help deal with Firefly and land him in prison."

_"They're on their way now, Darling. Knowing the Flash, they'll meet up with you soon."_

"Thanks, Baby Doll. I'll see you after this is all done with." After that, they hung up. No sooner than that, Flash and Kiryo joined him. "Nice to see you're back on your feet, Barry!"

"Oh yeah! So the problem's Firefly this time, huh? What about Birdie?" Flash asked.

"Supergirl took care of him, but used what little energy she had left to do it after getting shot by Firefly!"

"It must've involved Kryptonite then!"

"Yeah! In the bullet itself! I managed to get it out of her arm before it did anything fatal!"

"Guys!" Kiryo exclaimed. "Pyromaniac up ahead!" They looked and saw Carson about to burn up a church. Logan really couldn't stand this guy now. Unfortunately, a part of the church that was displayed outside was a Nativity Scene that would get burned. As Logan had told Kiryo about the high regard he held the Nativity Scenes in, he jumped right ahead and attacked Firefly right away, not knowing that he was charging his own 'Chidori' through his swords. He and Logan were both shocked when the familiar lighting arches were unleashed from the blades and hit Firefly. "Did I...just use...'Chidori Blade'?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did," Logan said with a proud smile. "It's your first 'Chidori' variation and one of my favorites."

"I figured you two were related somehow," said Flash. As it turned out, the attack shorted out Carson's jetpack. His flamethrower, however, was still intact. He aimed it, but the three speedsters acted quickly. Flash spun him around like a top and started punching him. He punched him to Logan since Kiryo had his turn already and Logan had his fists charged up as well. He delivered the first punch before hitting him with a series of kicks.

"Chidori..." he began after doing the second punch. He then delivered the uppercut. "...Shoryuken!" he finished, performing his signature 'Shoryuken' variation. As usual, the pillar of lightning rose high enough that Soifon and Supergirl could see it. The end result was that Carson was finally knocked out. "That's for ruining Christmas for everyone else, Carson."

"Logan!" exclaimed a voice. Logan, Flash, and Kiryo turned around and saw Soifon carrying Supergirl on her shoulders. "It's a good thing you're still alive. Supergirl and I were worried about you."

"Aww, do you miss me that much, Soifon? You know, you can spend Christmas with us. Kiryo's still got that big salmon he caught at the river party. He can cook it up just the way you like it."

"Very funny..." she said with a blush. "Kiryo, as your adoptive aunt, I feel I must tell you something important."

"What is it, Auntie Soifon?"

"I like my salmon either fried or grilled. Use a pinch of fish seasoning and don't forget the chives."

"You know what's funny?" Logan asked, getting the attention of the Justice Leaguers. "She likes fish, but she won't eat meat."

"That is funny," said Flash as Kiryo wrote down the instructions. They noticed that Supergirl took Logan to talk to him privately.

"What do you need, Supergirl? Why bring me away from the others?"

"To disclose to you my secret identity. I like you. I trust you," she said, surprising Logan. "My name is Kara Zor-El. My Earth name is Kara Kent. Either way, I'm Superman's cousin, and I'm Clark Kent's as well. Civilians just don't know about the whole superhero thing."

"Like it or not, that also makes you Connor's cousin as well."

"I know. I'm still trying to get used to that since Kal-El was raised here on Earth since he was a baby. It wasn't too long ago that I learned of Krypton's destruction. I don't trust very many people, Logan. I trust you because you saved my life. I thank you for it."

"Really, Kara, you saved me first, so we're even."

"I know. I just see this as the beginning of a strong friendship. If you need me or anyone else in the Superman Family, even Kon-El, call us. Or we can just hang out."

"Sure thing, Kara. We can't do that too often, though. My girlfriend might get mad."

"Well, if anything happens that causes a bit of a rift between you two, let me know," Kara said with a wink before flying off.

"Man, how do you do it?" Flash asked.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just that lucky," answered Logan. Soifon knew that he'd stay faithful to Cammy, much to her chagrin. "C'mon, guys. I have to get Cammy's other Christmas present."

* * *

Christmas came and Logan and Cammy were lying in bed. Logan woke up and quietly got out of the bed, bringing Oreo with him. After putting Oreo at his food bowl, the Den-master snuck back into the room with something in his hand that he knew Cammy would love. It was a small, orange and white kitten with a bow wrapped gently around its neck with a tag on it. Logan knew this kitten was well-behaved, having met it before. He brought a finger to his lips, telling the kitten to be quiet. It smiled and snuggled up on Cammy's chest. Logan decided to leave them be and go make breakfast for everyone.

After a while, Cammy woke up to the sight of the kitten on her chest. This made her shriek, making everyone in the den jump to hers and Logan's room in concern. Only Chun-Li was baffled when they saw Cammy cuddling the kitten like she was a little girl. Soifon and Kiryo knew about it and even learned from Logan that Cammy loves cats in general. Even though she has a preference for black cats on account of Yoruichi, Soifon had to admit that the kitten was cute. Cammy had a look at the tag and wasn't surprised one bit about who it was from. "'To: Cammy. Love: Logan'. Logan, this kitten is so precious," she joyously said.

"I'm glad you like her," said Logan. "She doesn't have a name yet. I decided that since she was your present, you should get to name her."

"Why thank you." She had a good look at the kitten to decide what to name her. After hearing the kitten 'mew', she decided on the name. "How about 'Tigress'? Do you think that's a good name for her? She does have a stripe pattern in her fur, you know."

"Tigress sounds perfect for her."

"Well then, welcome to the family, Tigress." The kitten, now named 'Tigress', let out a 'mew' in response. They heard a 'meow', so they looked and saw Oreo jump up on the bed. Logan smiled and scratched his buddy behind the ears as both cats got to know each other. They got to opening other presents. In addition to Tigress, Cammy got a new vase and a bouquet of flowers from Logan, a new set of throwing knives from Chun-Li, a Grumpy Cat doll from Soifon, and a Keith Richards CD from Kiryo. Logan got a new punching bag from Kiryo, another pair of brown sparring gloves and sports wrap from Cammy, four tickets to a Shooter Jennings concert (one for her, one for him, one for Cammy, and one for Kiryo, after learning that the latter two liked Outlaw Country as well, though not to Logan and Guile's extent), and a new, armored jacket from Soifon.

Kiryo got a jacket from Soifon as well (similar to Logan's), a cell phone from Cammy, the keys to a new motorcycle from Chun-Li, and sparring gloves of his own from Logan, though black in color. Chun-Li got a new evening dress from Logan, a dog poster from Soifon (after getting a bit of a push from Logan), a new pistol from Cammy, and a guide to Western confectionaries (admitting that he got some help from Logan and Cammy for that one). Soifon had received a cell phone from Cammy as well (in spite of her own reluctance), a whistle from Kiryo, a set of pajamas with black cats from Chun-Li (though the latter still felt she didn't deserve them), and a black cat poster that she was wanting from Logan, which made her regret how their relationship ended, remembering that they never made it to Christmas.

She hugged Logan as an apology for how things didn't work out. Even Chun-Li felt bad for her. The Zeta Platform activated and there was a present within the chamber. Logan went to see what it was and saw that it was wrapped in blue paper and red ribbons. The tag had the 'S' shield on it as well. This was a gift from Supergirl to Logan. He opened it up and saw that it was a snow globe of Metropolis with the 'S' shield in the center. A card also came with the snow globe, which Logan decided to read out loud.

"'Dear Logan,

I'm so glad that I got to meet you last night, even though it wasn't under the best of circumstances. Thank you for saving my life, even though we hardly knew each other. This is in hopes that we'll get to work together again soon.

Sincerely, Your Friend,

Supergirl'."

"So, you and Supergirl have an instant connection, huh?" Cammy asked, a little territorial about Logan.

"You've got nothing to worry about. Supergirl and I are just friends. The grounds were that we saved each other's hides from death. She saved me from having a broken neck while I saved her from a Kryptonite bullet, both times involving Firefly." Logan then remembered something. "That reminds me. Kiryo," he said, getting Kiryo's attention. "A friend of yours asked me to give this to you today."

"Now I wonder who did that..." Kiryo said. He opened it up and saw that it was a Christmas card with a familiar face on it. "Angel?" he asked, shocked that she would send him anything at all before remembering how grateful she was that he defended her from the Mad Gears. The card didn't say anything other than 'Merry Christmas from the Westhelm Family'. The way that the future Assassin thought of it, though, was that since a picture was worth 1000 words, there were no need for any more words than what was already on the card. The picture itself was of Angel smiling. After the others saw this, Cammy immediately decided that she approved of her as Kiryo's girlfriend, which embarrassed the poor guy.

CHAPTER 25 END

* * *

**Okay, guys, this is a little Christmas present for you. I haven't properly used any version of the Flash since Chapter 3, so I thought I'd go with the main Flash for this one. I also decided that there needed to be more DC Comics characters as well, so I went with Supergirl since she's got a new series of her own now, along with **_**Arrow, The Flash,**_** and the upcoming **_**Vixen**_** and **_**Legends of Tomorrow**_** series, as well as the cancelled **_**Constantine**_** series. Also, as you may have figured out, a fight with Birdie is pretty much going to be a running gag with the exception of this chapter.**


	26. Community Service Gone Awry!

**Okay, everybody, here is a little something to go with the Christmas chapter. This one focuses on Sharel, who is getting some help from a Green Lantern who I only actually used once (No, it's not Hal or Simon). Me and a buddy of mine decided to focus this one on a cranky old man who does nothing but cause trouble for everyone else. This will be quite a challenge for our second Silver Lantern.**

* * *

**Community Service Gone Awry!**

In Coast City, things were very peaceful. The citizens were walking around with their gifts for their family, dressed in overcoats, top hats, gloves, and scarves. The wreaths were on the lampposts and the lights were on the buildings. As per every year, the church (like the one that Logan, Flash, and Kiryo saved from Firefly in St. Louis) had a Nativity Scene. To top it all off, there was a giant Christmas tree in the town square with a big bright star on the top, which brought a smile to the faces of all the people in the city. It was most certainly a beautiful sight.

Speaking of beautiful sights, Sharel happened to be sitting on a building reading a 'Silver Lantern Handbook' that Nate wrote. It was supposed to be guidelines for what a Silver Lantern's duties and obligations were, but part of the time, she could hardly read his handwriting, making her wish he used a computer or a typewriter. He did make some things clear, though, such as obligations to the community. Of course, this was one that was familiar with any hero. Sharel even knew that Superman and the Flash were known for it, as was Bruce Wayne, though she knew it was also an attempt on the latter's part to keep up the impression that he and Batman were two different people.

She closed the book and got to thinking about what to do. She looked around and saw that there was hardly anything going wrong. It was a good thing in her opinion, but at the same time, she was bored. "Great," she said. "Nothing here's going wrong in this town. It's great, but there has to be something I can do." She looked up and saw a window washer on a lift. After floating up a bit, she saw that the cables were about to snap. When they did, the man fell down. Everyone thought he was going to fall to his death, but Sharel used her ring to catch him. She missed the lift, but a green aura surrounded it. She looked and saw that John had caught the platform, allowing her to breath a sigh of relief. "That was a close one. Are you alright?"

"My heart's beating at a fast pace, but I'm alright," said the window washer. "The boss isn't going to like this."

"If your boss is a good person, he'd be more concerned about your health than he would some clean windows and a broken lift," John said.

"Yes, Green Lantern Sir." With that, the window washer took off to tell his boss the bad news.

"So I take it you're Sharel?"

"Y-Yes sir," she said nervously.

"That was a nice catch you made there. Too bad you couldn't get to the platform."

"Yeah. Thank you for that. Y-You must be John Stewart, correct?"

"Yep. Former Marine Corps. Sergeant-turned-Green Lantern."

"W-Well I'm sure you hear this a lot, but thank you for your service, Sergeant," she said.

"At ease, kid," said the GL. "By the way, something seems to be on your mind. Care to explain what it is?"

"Well, I've been trying to find a way to help the community. It's in this 'Silver Lantern Guidebook' that Nathaniel wrote. Plus, I thought it'd be fun."

"You mean to tell me that that little knucklehead actually wrote a guidebook?" Sharel showed it to John in response to his question. As he read over it, he shook his head. "If he was going to do this, he needed a proofreader, a spellchecker, and a computer." He handed the book back to Sharel. "Kid, you don't need a guidebook to tell you what to do. All you have to do is follow your gut instinct and do what you know for a fact is right. If I were you, I'd put this back on the shelf and find some way to help out without it."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

After a while, Sharel floated around some more. She came across a retirement home, which had its share of senior citizens. There were also younger people taking care of them. Sharel decided that it might be a good place to check out. She floated down to the entrance and entered the door. The lobby was quite a sight to behold. It was exquisite with flower vases on the end tables, chairs, a nice carpet, and a chandelier on the ceiling. The interdimensional girl was fascinated by the sight. This was definitely a place she felt she could do a lot of good here. "Can I help you, Miss?" asked a woman at the reception window.

"Yes. I was hoping I could find a way to help out here," she said.

"Well isn't that nice. We really appreciate it, Miss...?"

"Sharel. My name is Sharel."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Sharel. I'm Katherine, but others call me 'Kat'. Believe me when I say, we could really use all the help we can get."

"What do you mean? Don't your staff and the residents get along at all?"

"Yes we do, but I'm afraid that there are some residents who can be a bit difficult in places like this and our facility is no different." Sharel quirked an eyebrow as Katherine continued. "You see, we pride ourselves in making our residents feel as much at home as possible. However, there is one particular resident who has made it difficult for us. Because of him, a lot of our staff quit and hardly anyone volunteer. Sure, there are some brave and foolish ones, but this guy can quickly change their minds."

"Oh he surely can't be that bad. I may put on a show for everyone here."

"Be sure to keep it clean if you do. We want the families of our residents to be able to visit them. I can't stress how important it is that they do as often as they can."

"Don't worry. It'll be a magic show," said Sharel.

"Oh. Well I'm sure they'll like that," Katherine said. "It'll give them a break from hearing all about the Justice League. Quite frankly, their favorites are Green Arrow, Batman, and Wildcat since they don't have any powers." This gave Sharel a cause for concern, so she thanked her lucky stars that she was in civilian clothes as opposed to her Silver Lantern outfit.

* * *

A while later, she had figured out what she planned to do as her act. Of course, she had to make sure she seemed similar to the common stage magician as opposed to one like Giovanni Zatara and his daughter Zatanna. While it took her a bit of thinking, she felt that she had what she needed. Using her powers, she snapped her fingers and changed into a magician's tux. This one was closer in design to Giovanni's rather than Zatanna's due to the pants that she had. "Well would you look at that," said a voice. It turned out to be John. "It looks like you're ready to perform your magic show."

"Sergeant Stewart? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I mainly came here to see how you were doing. The receptionist told me that you were putting on a show. I was worried until she mentioned this."

"Any advice?"

"Yeah. Don't let yourself be exposed for actual powers. Try to limit yourself to the tricks that they're normally used to seeing, but amaze them at the same time. That way, they won't know that you're from another dimension." Thinking about John's advice, Sharel looked at her equipment again and figured out that something was missing. She finally figured out what it was and snapped her fingers again, making a top hat appear. The Green Lantern smirked in approval, having faith that Sharel would do just fine. After taking a deep breath, the interdimensional girl was finally ready for her magic show.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, for our entertainment tonight, we have a new girl performing some magic tricks! I can guarantee you that you'll love this!" the lead caretaker said, speaking loud enough in the mic so the audience could hear. Naturally, it was a bit loud for John. "If you would be so kind as to put your hands together and help me welcome our performer of the night, here is the Great Sharel!" As the caretaker moved to stage left, the curtain pulled back and revealed Sharel with a table, which had a pitcher of lemon water, an empty glass, and a towel.

"Hello, everybody!" she said, getting a 'hello' back. "It's such a nice day today, isn't it?" This time, she got a series of 'yesses'. "I'm glad you think so too." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a deck of cards. "You know, I've been walking around town lately and I couldn't help but admire how beautiful it is around Christmastime. It's certainly my favorite time of the year. However, the presents are always so darn hard to find. Then again, there are relatives that are near impossible to shop for." She then approached an elderly lady, giving John a clue as to what she was doing. "Would you like to pick out a card, Miss?"

The woman tapped a card, which turned out to be the Five of Diamonds. After showing it to the audience, Sharel put the card back in the deck and shuffled it. "Thank you, Miss. As I was about to say, I have a friend in St. Louis who hasn't really told me what he wanted. Then again, his mother doesn't like me that much, so I'm trying to see if I can get to him without her being around. I tell you, it's not easy," Sharel said, indirectly referring to Kiryo while changing the story up. After shuffling the deck quite a few times, she began to notice something odd. "And while...Christmas shopping...can be...stressful... Miss, I'm afraid that I lost your card somewhere." The old lady looked at Sharel with a funny look. "Why is my hair all itchy? Wait a minute." John got a smirk on his face as she felt the card in her hand. "It feels like I have something in my...Aha!" she exclaimed, holding up the object that was in her hair. It turned out to be the Five of Diamonds.

Sharel got a large amount of applause for her card trick. After leaving the deck of cards with the old lady, she went right back up on stage. "Thank you for volunteering, Miss." The old lady gave a smile and a nod, telling Sharel that she enjoyed being a part of the act. "Whew! I need to cool down some." She took the pitcher of water and poured some in her hat, making the audience quirk their eyebrows. "There's no need for that 'Wet Floor' sign just yet, folks." She put the top hat back on her head, but didn't get splashed on. She smirked and removed the towel, amazing the audience because the water was in the glass. However, there was one old codger watching the show and wasn't surprised one bit once he saw the card act. He basically had curly 'Doc' Brown hair, glasses, and wore a sweater-vest combo along with holding a cane. Sharel took note of this and figured this to be one of those eternally cranky elders that she heard about from Katherine, perhaps even the specific one.

* * *

After a while, the show was coming to a close, so Sharel decided to perform one last trick. For this one, she had a cabinet large enough to fit a human. Since she didn't want to give the residents a total heart attack, she chose John. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, for my last trick, I'm going to make my assistant disappear from within this cabinet!" she exclaimed, making the audience look in wonder. John stepped into the cabinet and she closed the door. She went to the other side of the stage and pulled out two more cabinets. "Now the way this little trick is going to work is simple. I'm going to make my assistant disappear from the cabinet he's in now and then he'll reappear in another one. Are you ready?"

"Yes!" the audience shouted.

"Okay, here goes." She waved her wand around and made some smoke come out from under all three of them. When the smoke cleared, Sharel had a smirk on her face. "I bet you can't guess which cabinet he's in now." The audience looked at the cabinets, but the old lady from before took a guess and pointed at the third one. "I guess we'll see, Miss." She opened up the third cabinet, but the old lady was wrong. She then went over to the one that John stepped in in the first place, but he wasn't there either. She then opened up the door to the second cabinet and, sure enough, John was there. "Ooh, sorry, Miss. At least you still get to keep the deck of cards I gave you." The audience laughed and clapped in applause as Sharel said goodbye and left the stage.

* * *

Once Sharel got backstage, she made sure that no one was looking before snapping her fingers and changing back into her normal attire. "That wasn't bad, Sharel," John said, coming around the corner. "But you had some close calls there."

"Tell me about it. I don't know what I would have to do if I had to saw someone in half," she said.

"By the way, that first story you were telling. Was it Logan and his mother you were referring to?"

"Actually, no. I was referring to Logan's descendant Kiryo Harufune. Booster Gold brought him here from 250 years into the future. As for the 'mother' part, I was talking about Kiryo's other ancestor Cammy White, who happens to be..."

"Logan's girlfriend," John finished, surprising Sharel. "I met her on the day that Logan and Nathaniel met Hawkman. He did tell you about that one, right?"

"Yeah. Nathaniel has a fear of Hawkman while Logan has a friendly rivalry with him. Why is that?"

"The rivalry?" Sharel nodded. "I think it's got something to do with the environment, or more specifically, where Hawkman was stationed at. With the exception of Wildcat, Logan doesn't get along well with New Yorkers, and New York was where they met Hawkman. Logan's got another rival there that he really doesn't get along with very well."

"Let me guess. Any time those two are in the same area, someone's got to separate them. Is that right?"

"That's exactly right. Anyway, when you did your water trick, I noticed you had a look in your eye, almost as if you've managed to spot a particular someone."

"I was told by the receptionist about an old curmudgeon who causes trouble for everyone here. I think I may have spotted him, but I'm not sure."

"Yeah, we do run into one every now and then. Just remember this: From here on in, whenever you're here, you're not to use your powers. Your objective is to help these people, not give them heart attacks."

"Yes, Sergeant," she said before leaving to check up on everyone.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" John asked himself.

* * *

After checking on everything, there was one last resident that Sharel decided to check on. It was the grump from earlier. She found him walking down the hall with his cane wearing a golfing hat. He continued to walk down until he bumped shoulders with one of the nurses, causing her to drop the food she was taking to one of the other residents. "I-I-I'm sorry, Mr. Fumbler!" she said.

"What are you, a new nurse?! Why don't you watch where you're going?! You could've killed me!" the old man exclaimed. Sharel finally realized that she had gotten herself into a mess. "Bah! You people are all alike! No respect for an old man! Now get this mess cleaned up before I have to whoop you like your mother should have!" This got the poor nurse to break into tears as Fumbler continued on his way, glaring at Sharel in the process.

After he passed her, Sharel walked over to the nurse and helped gather up the food that she dropped. "T-Thank you," said the nurse. "That Mr. Fumbler is a mean old man. Unfortunately, this place would get reported for having a bad reputation if we even so much as attempted to lecture our residents. It's not easy."

"Boy I hear you. Lucky for me, I'm just volunteering here. Of course, whether or not I knew what I was getting myself into, I would've volunteered anyways. It's a part of me," said Sharel. "Now you get back to the kitchen while I go let...Mrs. Lewis know what Mr. Fumbler did to you."

"Thank you."

* * *

After a bit, Sharel had found Mrs. Lewis' door. "Mrs. Lewis?" she asked.

"Come in, child," said an old voice. Sharel opened the door and saw an elderly woman—about in her 90s—sitting in her chair watching TV. For a woman her age, she was certainly healthy. "You don't look like one of the nurses here. And I don't see any food with you." A look of realization quickly hit the old woman. "Ah, now I recognize you! You're that 'Sharel' girl. The one who did the magic show."

"Y-Yes, ma'am, I am."

"You must be volunteering here." Sharel confirmed with a nod. "Well ain't that nice. It's good to have young'uns that'll give without expecting anything back but a good conscience. Now where is that nurse who is supposed to be bringing my food?"

"That's just what I came to talk to you about. She kind of had a run-in with Mr. Fumbler in the hall."

"You mean Jeremiah Fumbler is the reason she is taking so long? What happened?"

"Well, you see, the nurse was bringing your food to you like she was supposed to, but Mr. Fumbler bumped her shoulder and made her drop it. Then he started yelling at her like it was her fault."

"Why am I not surprised. That Jeremy Fumbler's had a bit of a mean streak since he was seven years old. I should know because I'm 15 years older than him. I was his second grade teacher in Elementary School. I cared for the children and strived for them to get good grades. Unfortunately, even back then, there were parents who did nothing to discipline their children. Jeremiah, or Jeremy as he was called, was one of those kids. Because of his mean streak, he was finally expelled from High School. When World War II broke out, he was among those that have been drafted. Due to this, his mean streak was quelled until the end. Immediately after the war, he married a woman he had fallen in love with. This had the effect I had hoped it would: He wasn't the mean kid he was before the war.

"However, a few years ago, Jeremiah's wife had died, which meant that that nasty personality of his came back in full swing. It had eventually gotten to the point where his children couldn't stand him anymore, so they placed him in here hoping that the staff here can help him feel more comfortable and get rid of that mean streak once and for all. Unfortunately, it just made it worse, especially since his children wouldn't visit him once."

"That's awful."

"'Awful' is an understatement, Sharel. He's done nothing but abuse the staff here. I feel bad for those poor nurses who have to deal with him. Unfortunately, the reviewers of these facilities take note of the staff and not the residents. If that were the case, Jeremiah Fumbler would not be here."

"You never liked him when you two were younger, did you?" Sharel asked.

"I can't say that I was fond of him, but I tried to teach him to be a better person. You can obviously see how well that went." The nurse came in with Mrs. Lewis' food. Sharel took that as a cue that she had better leave her in peace. "I hope you can find a way to kick out that bad attitude of Fumbler's, Sharel."

"Well judging from what I've seen, it may be a bit difficult. I'll give it my best shot."

* * *

After a while, Fumbler was sitting on a bench in the courtyard. Normally, one would enjoy Mother Nature's beauty, but in this case, the old man was scowling. While he didn't hate his kids, he held a strong dislike for them, especially his son. This was due to their decision to stick him in what he considered a prison with no visits, even from any grandchildren. Psychics weren't needed to read his mind to know that this was an issue he took personally. Of course, his kids knew that if they were to visit him now, then he just might be a bad influence for his grandchildren. It definitely wasn't a win-win situation for anybody. "The next time I see that son of mine, I'm going to…" he began, getting angrier the more he thought about it.

"Excuse me," a voice said, interrupting his thought. He looked up and saw that it was Sharel.

"What do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could sit here."

"No. I was here first."

"Actually, I was going to sit with you." Regardless of what Fumbler said, she sat down anyways.

"What did I say? You youngsters have no respect for those older than you! When I said 'no', I meant no! Now go away and leave me alone!"

"I was actually trying to find out more about you, Mr. Fumbler. You seem like someone who would make good company."

"You don't know me very well, do you? Everyone's against me, girl, and I don't know why, nor do I care. I just want to be left alone if you don't mind."

"Well I'm sorry, Mr. Fumbler, but you look like you could use some company. Mrs. Lewis told me all about you, but I'd like to find out what made you believe everyone was out to get you in the first place."

"If you spoke to that old hag, then you should know the reason why. My idiot son stuck me in here and he won't even bother to visit his old man or even bring my grandchildren."

"She told me that much, sir. I meant what made you what you were before you were drafted in the Second World War."

"Oh that's none of your beeswax, kid! Get lost!" Sharel saw that she was getting nowhere in this process, but before she could come up with something else to say, an elderly woman with a walker walked by. She hit a pothole in the walkway and fell over, making the interdimensional girl accidentally float over there quickly and pick her up on her feet. "Well I'll be damned..." Fumbler whispered, having seen the incident. "That magic show was a reverse. She has real powers."

"There you go," Sharel said to the old lady. Unbeknownst to her, she was floating. While the old lady had a bit of fear, she was nevertheless grateful for Sharel. Fumbler decided that it was time to head back to his room. "This place really needs to fix their potholes."

"You got that right, child. Thank you."

"It's no problem. Enjoy your walk and watch out for more potholes. They can be a doozy." The two of them shared a laugh as the old lady continued her walk. Sharel saw that she was limping a little, so she went over to get a wheelchair and bring it back to her. The woman gratefully got in the seat and had Sharel push her back to the lobby.

* * *

When they got to the lobby, the nurses took over wheelchair duty. "That was a close one. Now to find Mr. Fumbler again," she said.

"Before you do, we need to have a talk," John said, having been waiting for her in the lobby. "Now did I not specifically state that you weren't to use your powers while you were here?"

"Y-Yes, sir. I-I didn't realize I used my powers until I got the wheelchair."

"That doesn't matter. These are people who still believe Superman is a threat to the Earth. When it comes to crime fighters, they have a tendency to put their money on Batman, Green Arrow, Steel, and Wildcat, primarily because they don't have powers. They're even fed Lex Luthor's lies when he visits here. If they believe Superman to be a threat, they'll treat you the same way. Fumbler even saw the whole thing."

"Speaking of Mr. Fumbler, he doesn't seem to be a very pleasant man to be around. He won't even mention anything about himself."

"I've been trying to figure out why that name sounded familiar and now I know. One of my fellow Green Lantern's, Logan's friend Kyle Rayner, has had a bit of trouble with him before. It's not that Kyle gave up on him. Instead, he didn't come back because the Corp. has been keeping him busy."

"So this 'Rayner' guy's had to deal with him before?"

"That's right, Sharel. Kyle's still willing to try the next chance he gets. He's got the strongest amount of willpower I've ever seen in a Green Lantern, even more than Hal. It takes a lot to break his spirit. You shouldn't give up on Fumbler just yet. You've done a lot of good for the residents here just like Kyle did before you. Just don't be too pushy about it."

"Even still, it's frustrating how much anger is in him and how he bullies other residents. I'm sure there's a kind man in him, but I don't know what to do to bring him out."

"Well, just look for him. In the meantime, I'll find out more about him than what we know."

"Okay, Sergeant. Good luck on your search," said Sharel.

"Same to you, Sharel," John said as Sharel went to search for Fumbler again. "Hey, it's me. I need some info...I need the info on an old man named Jeremiah H. Fumbler."

* * *

Back with Sharel, she continued to look around in the hallway. The nurses were minding their own business and tending to the residents to make them as comfortable as possible, as was their jobs. She saw Fumbler walking to his room with his cane. She saw that he was about to climb the stairs. _'Maybe I'll just...No! I can't use my powers. If I try to fly him up there, he'll just blame me for assaulting him. The elders in my world never had a problem with me!'_ she thought frantically before coming up with a solution. "Wait, Mr. Fumbler!" she exclaimed, running up to him. "Let me help you up."

"Didn't I say to leave me alone? Now get!" he shouted.

"At least let me help you to where you are going. Don't you think it'd be easier?"

"Okay, you want to help out? Fine. Get me to my room, kid."

"Yes, sir." After helping Fumbler up the stairs, they made their way to his room. When they entered the room, Sharel was amazed at what was in it. There were pictures of Fumbler's family, mostly him and his wife, as well as flowers.

_"Y-You're the Ghost of Christmas Future! T-Tell me! What lies ahead for me!"_ said the sound coming from the TV.

"Great. I must've left _A Christmas Carol_ on again." He turned off the TV before turning to Sharel "I saw you earlier, kid. That was a pretty convincing magic show you put on, but I know you have superpowers," he said with a scowl. "I could care less what happens to the others, but don't you reveal them again. I don't want to die without seeing my family at least one more time. This essentially means no heart attacks. You got that?"

"You got it. This is your family, isn't it?"

"Yep. That's my dear wife Anabel. She gave me two kids: my son Jacob and my daughter Danielle. She just turned 40 last month and Jacob got the last word in, which meant no visits from them or my grandchildren. I would do anything to see them again." He then had a look at Sharel. "Kid, do yourself a favor: Use those powers for whatever you wish to do. Knowing you, you'll use it to save the lives of innocents. Just don't forget your own family. They matter more than anything." Sharel nodded, finally seeing a glimpse of the nice old man she knew was there. "Now get out of here and leave me in peace!"

* * *

Back in the lobby, John was still on the phone with the person on the other end of the line, which turned out to be Bruce Wayne. "You mean to tell me that Old Man Fumbler's always been that way?" John asked. "It's no wonder Kyle had trouble with him before."

_"He's lived a hard life, John,"_ Bruce said. _"It's made him rough. I think it's best if Sharel's found that out herself, though. Somehow, I have a feeling she'll make his day."_

"I hope you're right. Dealing with this particular old-timer isn't easy."

"Finally! Someone agrees with us!" shouted an old man.

"Sergeant!" Sharel exclaimed as she came into the lobby.

"What's up, Sharel?"

"Can we talk outside?" John nodded and followed her outside the door, putting Bruce on speakerphone, but made sure to avoid having anyone else listen in, lest they find out his identity as Batman. "I think I may have an idea to get Mr. Fumbler to be the nice man he was before his wife passed away."

"Well shoot. I'm game."

"Are you listening, Mr. Wayne?"

_"Yes, Sharel, I am,"_ said Bruce.

"We'll have to convince his children to change their minds and visit him at least one more time and bring the grandchildren."

_"Now THAT sounds like a plan."_

"I'll let Kyle do the talking. He was Fumbler's original volunteer after all," said John. "I just hope this works."

"It's got to work."

_"Sharel's right. Usually, the best way to bring out a person's heart is to bring to them those where their heart lies the most."_

* * *

Later that night, a red van pulled up. Though visiting hours were almost over, the staff made an exception with this case. A brother-sister pair came out of the van. Each one had brown hair and signs of being in their 40s. They were obviously Fumbler's kids Jacob and Danielle. They even brought their own kids, a boy and a girl for each of them (in their teens), with them. They walked up to their father's room and took a deep breath. "Dad?" Jacob asked, knocking on the door. They looked and saw Jeremiah sitting in his chair watching TV again.

Fumbler looked up and saw his children, who had cautious expressions on their faces. He got up and walked over to them. Just when Jacob thought Jeremiah was going to hit him. Instead, the old man gave his son a hug. The two of them shared a smile for the first time in years. He repeated the same process with Danielle and the grandchildren. "You have no idea how long I wanted you two to visit. I can tell right now that you two have raised some fine children. Thank you for bringing them and coming here," he said.

"It's good to see you again, Dad," said Danielle.

Sharel smiled at the sight from outside before going to meet John again in the lobby. With him was another Green Lantern who was in uniform. His brown hair was combed up and he wore a black green bodysuit with a green chest. The GL Corp. symbol was on the left side of his chest. He also wore a mask that was different from Hal Jordan's in shape and design, being black on the bottom and green on the top. This was Kyle Rayner, one of Logan's buddies. "That was good thinking, Sharel. Your curiosity has definitely earned you that ring," said John.

"I was wondering what the Silver Lanterns represented," Kyle said. "It looks like it served us well."

"Yeah, well Mr. Fumbler taught me something important today." The Green Lanterns looked at her with cocked eyebrows. "You should never forget about your family no matter what you do. It won't do you any good if you don't talk to them as often as you can."

"You got that right. I visit my dad as often as I can."

"C'mon, you two. Let's get out of here." Before they left the office, Sharel looked back and smiled.

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Mr. Fumbler," she said.

CHAPTER 26 END

* * *

**Okay, so I was a little late for Christmas to post this, but at least I got it done before the New Year rolled around. The next chapter you're going to see is the start of the Rivals Arc, but it may not have a rivalry. I don't know. This means that there are rivalries that will happen, such as a small war between Sharel and Angel with Kiryo as the prize and Logan against his rivals Juri, Vega, and a Bizarro counterpart (Juri actually being a **_**very**_** friendly rival). Nate, Cloak, Shannon, and Kiryo will also have rivals as well.**


	27. A Bizarre Battle!

**And now, ladies and gentlemen, here is the first chapter of 'Big Leagues' Rivals Arc. This is going to be a bit…'strange'. Not talking about Hugo Strange, though.**

* * *

**A Bizarre Battle!**

Metropolis was peaceful. One could hear the sounds of the children playing in the park and the traffic was going smoothly. The birds were singing, the sky was clear, and you could even see the trucks that came in to deliver what they had. Lex Luthor even had a few deliveries at his company LexCorp. It wasn't anything too major. He had somehow caught wind of Cloak's battle with Twelve and the strange figures that he fought alongside Shazam and Catwoman (Patience Phillips), so he kept a lookout for these figures, mainly to make sure they didn't even dock at his warehouse. It would mean bad business for more than one reason. While he did wish to rule the world, he also looked out for his fellow humans to keep them safe.

Back at the park, though, there were some kids playing on the merry-go-round. They were having fun when a figure flew past them. He looked like Superman, but the 'S' on his chest was backwards, his uniform was purple, his skin was chalky white, and his hair was disheveled. He saw the kids laughing, but for some reason, his mind thought that they were in danger. He swooped down and was immediately recognized by one of the mothers, who screamed and cried for help. "Bizarro go to ruin the day!" he shouted in an odd, third-person manner, revealing his name. Bizarro grabbed the merry-go-round, shook the children off, and pounded it into the ground.

It wasn't long before Superman showed up. He shook his head and scowled at his doppelganger's antics. "Bizarro, stop! Put that merry-go-round down!" the Man of Steel ordered. Bizarro smiled and tossed it into the air, causing Superman to pinch the bridge of his nose. "That's right. Down means up, up means down. Why is it always backwards with you?"

"Not sorry," Bizarro said in regret.

"I'm very sorry, everyone. Bizarro here is still learning the ropes. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it just yet."

"Well, you keep your twin brother under control, Superman!" shouted one woman. "He endangered our children!"

"I'm aware of that, Miss, and I am very sorry. I'll take him somewhere and have a nice little chat with him." The two of them got a good distance away to where it was just them talking, meaning no one could hear them. "Bizarro, you did good today. That was a very nice thing you did rescuing those children," Superman said, making sure Bizarro understood the actual meaning behind them.

"Oh, thank you, Superman," Bizarro said.

"However, I heard from Batman that you've managed to make some new friends, am I wrong?"

"You am wrong, Superman. Bizarro not work with fellow Bizarros to save citizens on Bizarro World. Am there any more?"

"I'm afraid there are, Bizarro. Why don't you go back home? I'm sure there are citizens there you need to save." Bizarro nodded his head and parted ways with Superman when a thought crossed him. In his mind, Superman had meant that there were no other Bizarro clones. This meant that he needed to get some and recruit them in his Bizarro League. He actually knew the perfect targets too...

* * *

In Coast City, Nate was practicing with his ring again, still retaining the lessons he learned from training with Zangief. Sharel, on the other hand, was meditating, which means that she was sitting Indian-style upside-down. Cloak was in town as well, relaxing in his civilian identity along with Pitch. It was a good day for it. Unfortunately, a radio report had to ruin things. _"We interrupt this radio program for some breaking news!"_ the announcer said. _" Sources have reported that the labs of LexCorp. have been robbed by what looks like Superman. No one was seriously harmed, but there was an item stolen, which the officials at LexCorp. have yet to reveal. Lex Luthor himself has confirmed that Superman wasn't the culprit."_

"He was probably reluctant to say that," said a voice, which surprised Todd. It turned out to be Old Man Fumbler, who had been introduced to the rest of Nate's team as well as Cloak. "Those two never did like each other."

"Tell me about it. I haven't heard of one good word spoken between those two," Todd replied.

"I'm glad someone agrees. I have to get back to the Old Folks' Home. The last thing I need is that Sharel girl getting worried about me. See you, Platinum."

"Stay safe, Fumbler." Fumbler nodded and walked back to the Senior Home. "I can't stay here for much longer. I don't need Patience to find me."

_"According to Lex Luthor, the culprit has left Metropolis and cannot be found at this moment. Superman has taken it upon himself to search for him."_

"If Superman's involved, that can't be good."

* * *

Back on the rooftops, Sharel was continuing her meditation practice. She caught sight of a rock that barely missed her and conked Nate in the head. She looked and saw that it was a couple of punks trying to get her attention. "Why don't you take off your shirt, hottie!" one of them shouted, getting her to shake her head. They heard some growling, so they looked and saw Pitch in his panther form. It was more than enough to scare the kids away.

"Thanks, Todd," Sharel said as Todd got on top of the building.

"No problem. It looks like that rock hit Nate pretty hard."

"They were just a couple of ignorant people. That rock could've been harder."

"Tell me about it," Nate said. "What are you doing up here, Todd?"

"Old Man Fumbler and I just heard a report of a robbery at LexCorp. The culprit was someone who resembled Superman, but as much as Lex didn't want to say it, it wasn't the Man of Steel. Superman's on the case right now."

"Sharel, didn't you get to talk to Superman one time?"

"Yeah, I did. It was when Logan and I were on a mission to look for this 'Wind Master'. It was originally Logan and Steel's but their _Javelin_ was shot down. Hal Jordan sent me over there to make sure Logan was safe. I was trying to be a good shadow, but I bombed at that. Logan sensed me. The 'Wind Master' turned out to be a guy named Rashid, and he's not very fond of what Luthor's been doing to America and her heroes."

"I don't think Luthor's on anyone's good side, at least as far as heroes are concerned," Todd said. "With this election going on and Luthor on the ballot, the public opinion has been divided. Some support him, including one of the Justice League's own members, Captain Atom, while others don't want him in office. It's basically a war of opinion that I hope doesn't escalate to an actual one. That's the last thing we need."

"I can agree with you there Todd," Nate said.

"I am curious, though," Sharel began. "If Luthor becomes the ruler of the United States, will he actually have the people's best interest in mind?"

"As President, he would need to. There's a system here called 'Checks and Balances', which was designed to prevent any one political spot, such as the President, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court, from having total control. It's supposed to keep them in check, but lately, it seems that things are changing. If it gets to the point to where the 'Checks and Balances' System is no longer valid, things could turn hectic."

"Let's hope that's not the case with Luthor if he gets elected," said Todd. "We all know about that robot army of his. The one organization that I know it won't affect is the Soul Society that Logan and his group affiliate themselves with."

"Soul Society? What's that?"

"I can answer that one since I've seen Logan's memories. The Soul Society is basically a spiritual police corporation. They protect the physical realm by slaying monsters and enemies in the Spiritual Realm. There were even reports of Soul Reaper sightings by humans. The most significant one resulted in the emergence of their second and current Substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, who happens to be a perfect hybrid of a Soul Reaper, Hollow, Quincy, and Human. Both directly and through their respective relationships with mutual friend Rukia Kuchiki, who happens to be the Squad 13 Lieutenant, Ichigo happens to be one of Logan's best friends."

"Sharel's right," Todd said to a confused Nate. "I've seen Ichigo and Logan work together to try taking me on when I first arrived here from Exanton. As it just so happens, I landed in Ichigo's hometown of Karakura Town in Japan, just outside of Tokyo. Logan happened to have been there to help out with a Hollow problem that Ichigo was having problems with. After Logan got back from a meet-and-greet with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, we've managed to get along from that point on."

Todd and Sharel saw that Nate was still trying to wrap his head around the whole ordeal. "Too...much...to process...Brain...fried..." he said. Suddenly, Nate got hit with a laser beam, shocking the other two. The light blinded them for a bit, but when it cleared, they couldn't believe what they saw. It looked like Nate, but the hair was disheveled, he had the Bizarro face, and his Silver Lantern insignia was upside-down. The parts on Nate's uniform that were silver were grey on him. It freaked all three of them out. Nate looked to the side and saw Bizarro holding a gun. "Guys, I think we just met our Superman lookalike."

Bizarro aimed the gun at Sharel next, but Todd pushed her out of the way and moved the opposite direction. He had his Symbiote cover him and attacked him using his swords. Bizarro fired the laser at him this time and hit him, resulting in Todd's clone to appear. This clone's Symbiote suit was grey in color as opposed to Cloak's usual black. After having a good look at him, Nate and Cloak determined that they needed to take down Bizarro. Nate formed one of his turrets, but his clone knocked him down with a baseball bat construct. On the other hand, Cloak got caught in a blade-lock with his clone, who used dual-wielded axes. The clone head-butted him and punched him, following it up with a face-grab and a knee to the stomach, knocking his progenitor out.

Sharel wasn't having much luck with Bizarro since all she could do was play defensively. Using her ring, she put up a shield to block the laser shots. Both Nate's clone and Cloak's snuck up behind her and grabbed an arm. Bizarro saw that his fellow clones were struggling to hold her, so he concentrated his eyes on her and used an 'Ice Vision' on the lower half of her body. "Now, now, this hurt a lot," he said, frightening the girl. He pulled the trigger and a laser hit her. When it was said and done, the result was a Sharel clone with Bizarro-like features, including the ugly face, the unkempt hair, and the upside-down insignia. "Bad job. Bizarro ashamed of you." The other clones grinned before taking off, Nate's clone using his ring to carry Cloak's.

When they left, Sharel recovered from her shock and formed a club construct, breaking herself out with it. "Guys, wake up!" she exclaimed, trying to wake Cloak and Nate up. She saw that she wasn't having much success, so she materialized a couple buckets of water and poured them onto the guys, waking them up from their nap. "I'm glad to see that you two are up. That Superman clone managed to hit us all with that cloning ray. I couldn't do anything about it."

"So he managed to get you too, huh?" Nate asked, getting a sad nod from the other Silver Lantern. "Darn."

"It's not your fault, Sharel," Cloak said. "You were outnumbered. I couldn't tell how your clone hit you."

"Actually, your guys' clones grabbed me and the Superman knockoff froze me with this weird 'Ice Vision' move before actually cloning me." She thought of another possible target and froze when she realized that Bizarro and the other clones were heading in Kiryo's direction. Nate and Cloak knew what she was doing, so Pitch hopped on the latter's shoulder in Shadow Fox mode as they put their hands on her shoulders. She then teleported them to Kiryo's location.

* * *

Springfield looked nice every day of the year, often rivaling Jefferson City, Poplar Bluff, West Plains, and St. Louis as one of the nicest cities in Missouri. It wasn't every day that tourists would stop there and admire the scenery. In fact, practically everyone in Springfield was a citizen save for those who were just passing through. Cammy and Kiryo proved to be an exception, though. They were training at a junkyard that had enough space for some environmental training. This was also because Cammy knew that unlike herself, Kiryo had not yet been introduced to the harsh conditions of the Intense Training Facility just yet.

Right now, Cammy had nary a scratch on her while Kiryo was getting winded. Of course, one couldn't blame him considering all the energy he's been putting out and the amount of time he's been training. It wasn't like Logan wasn't willing to take his turn training Kiryo. Cammy just wasn't ready to let him take his turn. "C'mon, Kiryo!" she exclaimed. "You can't be worn down just yet! We've only been training for four hours! How do you expect to handle Logan's Intense Training Facility if you're worn down after just that!?"

"S-Sorry, Cammy," he said. Cammy decided to jump down and get closer to him.

"Maybe you should rest a bit. You have been training hard. I can guarantee you that training with your Aunt Soifon would be much more intense. Any ideas on how to improve your training?"

"Why don't I try to make it to where I don't put out a lot of energy? This training tends to do that to me."

"That's probably not such a bad idea. That way, not only will you be able to handle the Intense Training Facility, but you'll also improve your 'Flash Step' along the way. You'd even be able to keep up with Logan."

"Well then, let's get to it." Suddenly, a flash of light appeared behind Kiryo. When it cleared, Sharel, Nate, Cloak, and Pitch all fell on their rear ends. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Kiryo, it's awful!" Sharel exclaimed, running up to her crush and hugging him. "There was this really ugly Superman clone who attacked us! First, he cloned Nathaniel! After that, Cloak was cloned, and then me!"

"Sharel, slow down and get your hands off my descendant!" Cammy yelled.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." After she settled down and explained the situation to the two of them, Kiryo was shocked while Cammy was skeptical. She didn't believe that there could be any way for the three of them, especially her, to be cloned in an instant. "...and that's basically what happened," she said.

"How did he clone you three?" Cammy asked.

"He used some kind of a cloning ray," Cloak said. "Apparently, it's the very one that Lex Luthor used to create him from Superman. These clones look like a mix of him and their progenitors, which happen to be us."

"And you believe he's coming after us next?" asked Kiryo.

"That's what Sharel believes. The story's true. Nate can even attest to that since he was the first one hit."

"Then it sounds like we need to get ready. You haven't said a word, Nate. Why is that?"

"I was just trying to figure out where Logan's at," said the original Silver Lantern.

"He's still in St. Louis," said the descendant, focusing through his 'Spirit Sense'. "And from the feel of things, I think he's got company."

"That nasty clone?" Sharel asked.

"Nope. I think this one's a rival he actually enjoys." At the statement, Cammy clenched her fist and growled. "Is there something wrong, Cammy?"

"I think I know just who it is. Her name is Juri Han," said the Delta Red soldier, who saw that the others were confused. "Juri's a criminal on the 'Most Wanted' lists of the F.B.I., C.I.A., Interpol, and Delta Red. She has a crush on Logan that she doesn't bother hiding, which turns out to be the basis of a flirtatious rivalry. In fact, out of all of Logan's rivals, she's the only one who's company he actually enjoys."

"I think we better worry about Logan later!" Nate exclaimed, pointing upwards. They looked and saw Bizarro and the other three clones.

"So that's your problem, huh?" Bizarro aimed the ray at Kiryo and Cammy. When he fired, everyone dodged. Cloak, Nate, and Sharel all faced off against their clones while Cammy and Kiryo went after the leader. As Bizarro aimed at Cammy, Kiryo jumped up and tackled him to the ground. After a bit of struggling, he knocked the Future Assassin off and aimed the blaster at him. When he fired, the others were in a state of shock, with Sharel getting tears in her eyes. When the light cleared, they saw Kiryo standing by himself and wondering why he wasn't affected.

"That's odd...I guess that means that I have one of those clones already in my time," he said.

"What am right with this?!" Bizarro exclaimed, causing Cammy and Kiryo to be confused. "Let's not try on other girl." He fired again, and once again, Cammy dodged. This time, though, Kiryo stuck his hand out and deflected the ray. As Cammy tried to run, Nate's clone escaped him and trapped Cammy with rope. "Bad work. Keep moving, girl. This take long," he said, confusing and scaring Cammy. He fired the ray and caused her to be cloned as well. Like Sharel's clone, Cammy's had Bizarro's ugly face and her hair in a Bob cut. She also had the scar on the right cheek as opposed to the left. This clone also had her outfit in darker shades of Cammy's colors. "Mission failed. Go!"

After the Silver Lantern clone let go of Cammy, he left with the other clones. It was obvious who their next target was. "...Cammy?" Kiryo asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Kiryo," she said. "We need to get back to St. Louis. Logan's little 'date' with Juri is going to have to be interrupted."

* * *

In St. Louis, the citizens were having a good day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the squirrels were running around. Of course, as usual, Logan couldn't bother to take in the sights. He was chasing an opponent on the rooftops. However, he had on a smile as they jumped from building to building. The reason he had a smile on his face—well, more of a grin—was because of the enemy he was chasing. It was a young woman with a slender, attractive build wearing a purple spider top that exposed her midriff, white pants with a black-and-purple sash, purple tights, black ankle wraps, and purple gloves that went to her upper arms. Her hair was styled in two horn-like bangs on the top of her head fastened with pink ribbons and her eyes were purple.

They stopped at a rooftop that was open enough before she turned around and started playing with her bangs. "Boy, Logan, you still know how to show a girl a good time!" she exclaimed, a happy smile on her face.

"Well I have no intention of disappointing you, my lovely Juri!" he responded, revealing the girl to be his flirtatious rival Juri.

"This date isn't exactly over yet, darling! We're just getting started!"

"Well then, my sweet, shall we continue this dance?"

"It will be my pleasure! Lead on!" Logan smirked and 'Flash Stepped' towards Juri, to her surprise. He grabbed her with his legs and flipped her on her back. Juri responded with a kick to his face before getting up. She went on the offensive, delivering kick after kick, as well as a few punches. Logan did a majority of blocking, but he also delivered a few blows himself. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She landed on her feet and leered both sadistically and seductively at Logan. Her left eye was glowing, which signified the activation of her Feng Shui Engine. Logan quirked an eyebrow and gave her a grin, catching its activation through the power surge he sensed in her.

Juri made the next move and chained several combos she wasn't able to due to not having the engine activated. This gave Logan a bit of a hard time since he had to look for his opportunity while blocking. Juri did a jump kick towards him, but he grabbed her foot and tossed her over his shoulder. He tackled her to the ground and put her arms above her head. "So you're taking me from behind, huh? That's hot," she said with a flirting smile.

"Glad you think so, sweetheart," he flirted back. Suddenly, his 'Spirit Sense' picked up a weird Spirit Signature. This meant that, to her own chagrin, he had to let Juri go. He saw the worried look on her face. "Something's wrong here..."

"Does that mean our dance is put on hold?"

"It always takes two to tango, Juri. We'll continue our dance, but fighting a common enemy instead."

"I can live with that. So, what do the Signatures feel like?"

"It's more like 'who'. It feels like they're odd versions of Cammy, Sharel, Cloak, Nate, and Superman." They looked around until Juri noticed five figures in the sky, two of them having to be carried by Nate's clone. She tapped Logan on the shoulder to get him to notice. "What in the world...?" he asked, seeing the figures land in front of them. They turned out to be Bizarro and his fellow clones. "...Ooookay. I'm officially freaked out. How in the world did this happen?"

"Not with this," Bizarro said, aiming the ray at Logan. He pulled the trigger after Nate and Cloak's clones grabbed him. He adjusted his arms and grabbed their shirts. He slammed their heads together, escaped from their grip, and did it again. When Bizarro fired the ray at him, he continued to dodge by doing backflips. Nate's clone tried to smash him with a sledgehammer, but Juri fired a purple energy arc from her feet and stopped him. Cloak's clone tried to grab her, but Logan fired a 'Chidori Stream' from his index and middle fingers and hit him in the face.

The clones surrounded Logan and Juri, who were in their fighting stances. "Any ideas, Logan?" Juri asked.

"Just one: destroy that blaster," he answered. The two of them jumped over the Sharel, Cloak, and Cammy clones to get to Bizarro. Logan kicked off the Nate clone for a 'Flash Step' towards the Superman clone. He threw a Trick Knife at him, but Bizarro took notice and fired an 'Ice Beam' at him, destroying the knife and completely encasing him in ice, much to Juri's shock and anger. She knocked the other clones down and went after Bizarro. When she tried to kick him, he grabbed her ankle and slammed her to the ground. He got ready to fire the blaster, but saw that the ice was being melted. When Logan was broken out, he took a heavy breath.

"Bizarro, keep this up!" a voice said. Logan turned around and saw Superman descending.

"Thanks, Superman, but are you out of your mind? If he keeps this up, then chaos is going to ensue!"

"Superman tell Bizarro what to do! Bizarro do as told!" the clone yelled as he aimed the blaster. As Logan was still recuperating from the 'Ice Beam', he was caught off guard by the beam. When the light was cleared, the other clones smiled while Logan, Superman, and Juri were shocked. What stood before everyone was a Bizarro version of Logan, with a dark grey jacket, messier hair, the Bizarro-like structure, and an upside-down Assassin's Guild insignia on the right side of the jacket.

"Don't let anything Bizarro says or translates fool you," Superman said to Logan. "With him, if one thing is said, then it means the opposite."

"I guess the same applies to these clones of me and my friends," Logan said, getting a nod from the Man of Steel. "Okay, I'll take Logzarro, Cloakzarro, and Camzarra while you take on Silzarro, Shazarra, and Bizarro. Deal?"

"That's kind of what I had in mind. But that might change." Logan was confused as to what Superman was saying until he saw Cammy and the others arriving. To their shock, they learned that they were too late, since Logzarro was standing before them. They knew that they were going to have to take their own clones in a fight.

"Are you alright, Logan?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Logan walked over to Juri and held out his hand. She took it, knowing he'd help her up. "I'm going to need your help," he said to her. "Cammy and the others are going to be too busy taking down their copies."

"You don't need to tell me twice," she said. Superman started the fight by punching Bizarro into the sky. Nate and Silzarro clashed blade constructs, Cloak and Cloakzarro started trading blows, and Sharel and Shazarra used their powers against one another, resulting in a stalemate. Cammy and Kiryo fought against Camzarra, who was doing surprisingly well. They used a couple of 'Spiral Arrows' to attack her, but she dodged and slammed them into the roof. It was easy to see that they were having trouble.

* * *

Silzarro charged after Nate, but he was prepared, forming a sledgehammer construct and hitting him to the ground. Nate then formed his turret construct and opened fire. Silzarro countered with a construct of a rocket launcher. The Silver Lantern tried to fly away, but the missile was shot and heading towards him. After a while, he was getting tired, so he (unknowingly) guided it to Sharel. The interdimensional girl saw this and formed a portal to absorb the missile and redirect it to Shazarra from behind. It caught her clone by surprise and knocked her out. "Thanks for the save," Nate said, sighing in relief

"No problem. I was getting tired of that stalemate anyways," responded Sharel. "Now how to deal with yours..."

"I don't know. I was wondering that myself. Logan and that girl were handling themselves pretty well against them until he went after the Superman clone."

"Kiryo and Cammy seem to be having trouble with Cammy's clone. Cloak's matched evenly with his. I can't even find Logan and Juri anywhere."

"Well you look for them. I think I caught my second breath."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. If I can knock out my clone, I'll be good to help out Cloak. You just go ahead and make sure Logan's alright." Sharel nodded and went to find their Assassin comrade. Nate flew down to Silzarro's level to confront him. "Are you ready, pal?" he asked.

"Of course me not ready!" Silzarro shouted before charging at Nate again, this time with a chainsaw construct like Guy Gardner used. Nate formed a shield and blocked the weapon several times before finally punching the flawed copy. He punched three times, kicked once, grabbed him with the ring, flew over him, and finally slammed him face-first into the ground, knocking him out. "Whew! That was something. That chainsaw still gives me nightmares. Still, I better help Cloak."

* * *

Cloak was still struggling against his clone, as Cloakzarro continued to use his Symbiote as battle axes. Pitch, in his Shadow Fox form, started biting the clone's ankles hard. Cloak followed this up with a punch and a strike from a baseball bat. Pitch tackled Cloakzarro down, this time in his Panther form, forcing him to struggle. "S-Stay...on...me!" the clone yelled.

"That's what he's doing, you moron," Cloak said. Pitch swiped his paw hard at Cloakzarro's head and knocked him out. "Nice work, Pitch."

"Looks like I missed out on the action," Nate said.

"You got that right."

"I sent Sharel to go help Logan deal with his clone."

"He's got that girl with him, the one I'm certain is Juri. He should be fine."

* * *

Cammy and Kiryo were still having a tough time against Camzarra. Every time Cammy attacked, she either dodged or countered. In fact, Kiryo was the only one who got some real damage in due to knowing his ancestor's style. Still, that didn't stop him from being injured as well. He blocked Camzarra's next 'Spiral Arrow', which Cammy saw as an opportunity. "Cannon Strike!" she exclaimed, jumping over Kiryo and surging downwards. This hit her counterpart and sent her rolling to the other side of the roof. "At last, I got a hit on her," she said.

"Get comfortable! Camzarra staying put!" the clone yelled, jumping up and attacking the two of them. This gave Kiryo ample opportunity for a fusion attack that he wanted to try out.

"Zanryuken!" he yelled. He used his swords in a manner similar to the 'Shoryuken', but attacking with both instead of just one.

"Nice shot, Kiryo! It's my turn!" Cammy exclaimed before jumping and hitting Camzarra from different angles. "Cross Stinger Assault! Finish!" She completed the attack with an airborne 'Spiral Arrow' and knocked Camzarra out. "Is that the last of them?" she asked after landing.

"All except for Logzarro and Bizarro. Nate, Sharel, and Cloak managed to deal with their counterparts."

* * *

Logan and Juri had managed to lure Logzarro to the ground. Being Logan's counterpart, he was considered an idiot. Due to a trigger-happy personality, though, he was still just as dangerous. Unlike the others, Logan wasn't put off by the 'Bizarro-talk' due to Superman's advice. However, he wasn't much for small talk with his enemies, something Juri was just fine with since it put the fight to their advantage. Logan looked at Juri's spot, which was at the opposite corner of the alley they were in, to see what she was up to.

It turned out to be for the better since she tossed a can to the corner to her right. This distracted Logzarro long enough for Logan to quickly rush in for a takedown. He grabbed his clone by the neck and chokeslammed him to the ground. He followed it up with a hard punch to the jaw. Logzarro hit him with the butts of his revolver, getting him off of him. Before he could fire his shots, though, Juri rushed in and activated her 'Feng Shui Engine'. With a flurry of ki kicks and blasts, she managed to get the Bizarro clone away from them while the original Logan recovered. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Thanks," Logan said.

"I just thought of something."

"What's that?"

"Well...two things. First off, why didn't we see a clone of that Ronin buddy of yours?"

"My guess is that Kiryo's already got one in his time. He is mine and Cammy's descendant, you know."

"Right. How could I forget that? Okay then, now answer me this: Why didn't Bizarro target me?"

"I think it's because as Superman's clone, Bizarro didn't really see any necessity to target you. After all, Superman himself has been focused on mine and Nate's teams like the rest of the Justice League has. You've become your own woman after the destruction of S.I.N. and I respect you for that. I'm certain that you're in a grey area for both sides, though."

"Thanks." Logzarro got back up and aimed his guns at the rivals, which prompted Logan to draw his sword. Juri took the cue and got behind Logan. As the clone fired, the original ran towards him, deflecting the bullets. He switched his sword to a reverse grip and punched Logzarro upwards. Juri followed up by kicking him into a wall. They heard some groaning, so they got ready. Logzarro got back up, but he stumbled. He tried to lift his arms to aim his guns, but he finally fainted. "That was...something," Juri said.

"No kidding. Thanks for your help, Juri. I needed it."

"It's no problem, but why didn't you ask Kiryo to help out?"

"'Cause I know you and Cammy wouldn't get along."

"Well don't think that we're out of trouble yet. We still have to help Superman with the original Bizarro." Logan nodded as he picked Logzarro up and hoisted him on his shoulders. He jumped on the walls to get to the rooftops, followed by his favorite rival.

* * *

The group gathered their Bizarro clones into a group and tied them up. Silzarro, Shazarra, Cloakzarro, and Camzarra were still suffering from concussions. Logan and Juri added Logzarro to the mix. The Assassin looked to the sky and saw that Superman and Bizarro were still battling it out. That's when Kiryo thought of something. "I think I have an idea to stop Bizarro. It may affect Superman as well," he said.

"If you're talking about Kryptonite, Kiryo, it's not going to work. It'll weaken Superman, but Bizarro wouldn't be affected whatsoever," Logan said.

"Well then, darling," said Cammy. "What do you suppose we do?" Logan answered the question by walking towards the Bizarro ray that was used to clone him, Cammy, Sharel, Cloak, and Nate and pulled out a shard of Kryptonite. He set the shard down and fired the blaster at it. When the light cleared, they saw the green shard and a blue one. Logan put the green one back in his jacket and picked up the blue one.

"Nate, can you fly this up to them and weaken Bizarro with this?"

"Hold up. Are you sure that'll work?" Nate asked.

"I'm positive, but I can't fly. That means that either you or Sharel have to do it regardless of your energy levels."

"Uh...You're forgetting one thing," said Sharel.

"What's that?"

"We've never met Kryptonians before. We don't want to get caught in the crossfire." This caused Logan to growl, but he had an alternative. Using the shard, he formed two blue Kryptonite arrowheads and signaled Kiryo to come along.

"What's this about?" the descendant asked.

"Quick training. You're going to learn how to use a bow, starting with a compound/recurve hybrid," Logan said as the two of them made it to the tallest building nearby. "Green Arrow told me to use my instincts, which pretty much meant the 'Spirit Sense'. Stay calm and focus. Center your 'Spirit Sense' on Bizarro's Spirit Signature." Kiryo nodded as he and Logan aimed into the sky. They managed to find Bizarro's Signature, so they fired. The arrows hit him in the arms, which was followed by Superman slamming him to the ground.

The heroes, Juri, and the other Bizarro clones got to where Bizarro was at. They saw that their arrows had broken, showing that they weren't Trick Arrows like GA and Arsenal had. When Logan pulled the arrowheads out of Bizarro's arms, Superman saw the blue on them. "That was a type of Kryptonite, wasn't it?" asked the Man of Steel.

"Yep. It's Blue Kryptonite. It's Bizarro's answer to the green one that affects you and the rest of your team, which means that this type has no effect on you, but it does him," Logan said.

"Have I ever told you that you scare me when you think like Batman?" Logan's response was just a smirk. "I think I have an idea where to take them so they won't cause any harm."

"Where's that?" Nate asked.

"It's a place called 'Bizarro World'. Bizarro here's been to it. The reason he cloned you guys was because he wanted friends like you. The best way to do that in his mind was to use the duplicator ray to create Bizarro clones of you like he did Gardner, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Batman. Ordinary technology doesn't work there, but a Bizarro can make it work."

"Which would mean that Cyborg would malfunction, but his counterpart wouldn't," Logan said, getting a nod from Superman.

"I'll take the clones back there. In the meantime, you rest up. You must've had some hard battles."

"By the way," Sharel said. "Where's Juri? And Logzarro?" They looked and saw that the said two were gone.

"Don't worry. They aren't headed in the same direction. If there's one trait that Logzarro managed to retain from me, it's the fact that we're both bullheaded," Logan said, using his 'Spirit Sense'. "As for Juri, I'll worry about her later." The others nodded in understanding and went back to their HQs as Superman took the remaining Bizarro clones to Bizarro World.

CHAPTER 27 END

* * *

**Okay, so these suckers are getting longer and longer. That was the start to the 'Rivals Arc'. This pretty much means that several of the next handful of chapters will consist of rivalries, such as Logan vs. Logzarro, Logan vs. Juri, Kiryo vs. a counterpart of his, Cloak and Logan vs. Scorpion, Nate vs. Bonkers, etc., etc. You get the picture.**

**As I said before, I will include **_**Street Fighter III**_** characters like Urien, Gill, Necro, Sean, and especially Alex, since he, Ibuki, and Urien are going to be DLC for **_**Street Fighter V**_** along with Balrog, Guile, and Juri. I had already used Ibuki, Makoto, Elena, and Twelve beforehand. I have something special in mind for Alex, so keep your eyes peel**


	28. Getting Passed the Past!

**Okay, it's been a while since I've done a chapter focused on Shannon and/or featuring Wildcat, so I think they're overdue. I decided to bump up the rating as of this chapter. You'll see the reason why.**

* * *

**To Get Passed the Past!**

In Gotham City, the streets were busy. Everyone was either trying to get to where they were going or taking a calm walk. In the daytime, the city often looked its best, especially in the parks and piers. It's the whole reason that people are more active in the daytime rather than the night, due to the crime rate. With these people, there was a guarantee of no missed opportunities. That is, unless you're the CEO of a big company. Such was the case for Bruce Wayne. Though he tries his hardest to be there for his family and friends, it was Wayne Enterprise that kept him busy most of the time. Luckily, Tim Drake and Damian understood.

Though other families were happy to spend time with each other, this wasn't the case for Shannon. She was out on a walk on her own. Immediately, she figured out that criminals take an opportunity to not have to deal with Batman or Nightwing in the daytime. She saw a truck speeding towards a bank. Several men jumped out of the truck wearing black-and-white facemasks. One of them fired some shots to signify that this was a robbery. Shannon rushed in despite the warning from the police. She snuck behind two of the crooks and conked their heads together, knocking them out and alerting the other crooks. She gave them the 'bring it on' sign, angering them some more.

As they shot at her, she jumped towards each one, slamming her foot onto one guy's chin. She slid towards another guy and took him down with a leglock. Two of the remaining four managed to grab her while the other two got their knives out. The skylight broke and down on the two with knives came a figure. He knocked them out before standing up, revealing himself to be Wildcat. He let out an intimidating growl, scaring the other two criminals a little bit. Shannon used this opportunity to free her arms and elbow-strike them in the stomach, followed by a double chokeslam to the ground. "That wasn't bad, kid," Wildcat said as the police came in. "What's your name?"

"Do you have to ask, Wildcat?" Gordon asked rhetorically. "This is Shannon Youngblood. She's been cleaning up Gotham's Underground for quite some time, mostly working with Robin."

"Is that right?" Shannon ignored the conversation and walked out quietly. "Kids these days. Not even a simple 'hello' or a 'thank you'."

"You'd be surprised at how many times I said 'thanks' every time you rescued me as a kid."

"Jim, when you were a kid, I was just starting out."

* * *

Shannon saw that it was late, so she decided to head home. She got to the school, which counted as a checkpoint, and saw that she still had a bit to go. Her mother Sarah drove up and offered her a ride, which Shannon accepted. "So, how was your day?" Sarah asked.

"It was peaceful for the most part. I wound up stopping a bank robbery. I'll admit, I almost got myself killed. Would've too if it weren't for this old guy named Wildcat," answered Shannon.

"Well you should thank him. I know you're not much for small talk, Shannon, but when I was a kid, Wildcat was considered to be the greatest hero in the world. One should consider it an honor to actually meet him. I know that that title is shared between Batman and Superman at this moment, but even then, a new hero should step up and try to fill their shoes. Batman is doing just that. He's fulfilling Wildcat's legacy, but he fights in his own way."

"Please. No one could beat Batman, not even Nightwing and Superman and they'd come the closest."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Superman is an alien and Nightwing was the original Robin. Sadly, we need Nightwing as well."

"Mom, if there was a new Nightwing, would he have to fight like the last one?"

"Mostly. A new Nightwing could have powers or gadgets. It depends on who wears the costume. But your comment on Batman being the greatest? If Wildcat were younger, Batman probably wouldn't stand a chance." The two of them shared a smirk and then laughed.

* * *

After they got home, Shannon learned from Sarah that Isaac was at a friend's house. She tread on to her room and got to her computer to Skype call Damian. Before she did, though, she thought of the Nightwing conversation she had with her mother. Due to this, she decided to call Logan's base first. _"Hey, Shannon. What's up?"_ Logan asked.

"Not much," answered Shannon. "You and Dick Grayson are like brothers, right?"

_"Yeah, since his Robin days. Why?"_

"Well, do you think it's possible for you to take up the Nightwing identity?"

_"No way. I have a kill streak, remember? Why don't you?"_

"Please, Logan. I'm not wearing tights."

_"Come to think of it, I think Mr. Wayne told me that Dick got the name 'Nightwing' from a Kryptonian legend. I'll have to ask either Supergirl or Superman about it. Let me guess: You want to find another Nightwing, don't you?"_

"Isn't it obvious that this world needs one?"

_"True that. I'll see what I can find out. We may shoot for a Kryptonian one if there's more than just Supergirl and Superman."_

"Thanks, Logan." Logan nodded and the two hung up. She called the Bat Cave next, thinking that Damian would be there. It wasn't Damian that answered it, though; it was Batman. "Batman?"

_"If you were expecting Robin, he and Red Robin went on patrol,"_ said the Dark Knight. _"I heard from Wildcat that you stopped a bank robbery. Nice work."_

"It's no problem, Batman. I'll admit that I had a little help from Wildcat." She then remembered her conversation with her mother. "Come to think of it, she believes that that old man could beat you." This got Batman to crack a smile.

_"Sarah's pretty smart, Shannon. You should listen to her. If Wildcat was younger, he would without a doubt beat me. At his age now, that's up to debates. He beat Green Arrow after all."_

"Yeah, but Green Arrow was unarmed."

_"Good point. Still, I don't think I'd like to get in a fight with Wildcat anytime soon."_

"I suppose so. Well, when they get back, can you tell Robin I said 'hi'?"

_"Sure thing, Shannon. Get some sleep. Jason can take care of the Underground."_ Shannon nodded and hung up. After that, she got a white T-shirt, a pair of panties, and red short shorts and headed to the shower. After she started the shower, she let it warm up a bit while she took her clothes off. As per her routine, she started with her shirt. Next to go was her sports bra. After that, was her shoes, socks, jeans, and the rest. She stepped in and found the shower to her liking. As she felt the events of the day wash away from her body, she knew she needed this. She didn't know how much. After slowly moving the washcloth with the body wash on her body, over her sizeable breasts, and on her ass and legs, all of which took 10 minutes, she decided that it was enough of a shower.

She shut the water off, grabbed a towel, and dried her body off. After that, she wrapped herself in the towel and made her way to the sink. She wetted her hair, lathered it with shampoo, and rinsed it out. After drying it off with another towel, she looked in the mirror and smirked. _'I may not be looking to date anyone right now, but I wonder what guys would think if they saw my hair like this,'_ she thought before thinking of something else that made her frown. _'Then again, I doubt that they'd go for the bobcut look. They're probably into those long-haired women that look like supermodels. Of course, they probably would just be out for sex and not a relationship. My mother taught me better than I thought.'_ She finished the thought with a smirk, knowing not to jump in too quickly.

She got dressed in her night clothes and took her dirty clothes to the laundry room. She said goodnight to Sarah and went to bed. After closing her blinds, she turned her bedroom light off, took off her shirt, and got under the covers and went to sleep. Shannon did this because sleeping topless felt good to her. She initially tried it as a whim and found that she liked it. She's been sleeping topless since then.

* * *

Somewhere at Gotham's piers, a certain ship was docked. It had the signature two-tone pattern of its owners on record. One of the men rushed back onto the ship and through the casino lobbies to get to the office. The guy knocked on the door. "Come in!" said the voice of the current owner. The goon did as he was told. "Now what do you want?" the owner asked.

"B-B-Boss," the guy nervously started. "T-T-The boys who were sent to rob a bank were taken down."

"Now how can that be? The Bat's not even out in the daytime. If it was Red Robin, then maybe."

"I-I-It wasn't Red Robin, Boss. It was Wildcat and some girl."

"So Wildcat hasn't retired yet, huh? That old geezer needs to. What did the girl look like?"

"W-W-Well, she was a teenager, but a real looker. Her hair was bobbed and she wore jeans, a jean jacket, and a tank top."

"A teenager? Fighting crime without a costume? I need a better picture." The goon nodded and handed the boss an envelope. "Hmm...I see...Well now, this is a surprise. It looks like Darren Youngblood's little girl is now fighting crime. She's grown up," the boss said, turning around to reveal himself as Two-Face. "It's going to be fun meeting the family."

* * *

The next day at school, Shannon was in gym class. She was stretching to prepare for the pole vault when a group of new kids she hasn't seen before walked up to her. "Hey, cutie," one of them said, using a tone that caused Shannon to dislike him immediately. "How about we go back around and I show you a real pole vault."

"Please. I bet you'd fall flat on your face before anything else," she said, humiliating the guy.

"Oh, never mind her, Cliff," said the leader of the group, who was also the shortest. "That's Shannon Youngblood, the girl who's father left his family. It's no wonder why..."

"What did you say, you little pipsqueak!?" This exclamation was heard by Damian and DeMarcus, who saw that she was about to get in trouble. "You know, I ought to take this pole and shove it up your..."

"Leave her alone, guys!" a voice yelled. They looked and saw Ted in a white T-shirt and red sweatpants. "Now you kids mind your own business and get out of here before I call your parents!"

"What's Wildcat doing here?" DeMarcus asked Damian as the punks ran off.

"Coach Pryce is sick, so Ted's substituting for him," Damian answered.

"Sorry about that, kid," said Ted to Shannon, who was reeling in her temper. "It's punks like them that have nothing better to do than to belittle other students. Those same punks picked on Damian over there, but he managed to send it right back to them." This revelation caused Shannon to tighten her fists.

"Are you okay, Shannon?" Damian asked.

"I'm fine, Damian. Thanks, Coach..." she began.

"Grant. Ted Grant. I'm the substitute coach here because of Coach Pryce's illness." Shannon nodded and went back to her own business. "Hey, Shannon," he said, getting her attention. "If you need a better way to release your anger, I have a good way to teach you. Just let me know if you need the help."

"I'll...consider it, Coach." After that, Ted went to check on the other students, leaving Damian, DeMarcus, and Shannon alone. "Okay, Damian, you know the drill. Who's Ted Grant?"

"According to my dad, Coach Grant was a boxing legend back in his day. He retired with a perfect record and now owns 'Grant's Gym' and co-owns the Intense Training Facility Logan and Cammy use."

"I bet that Kiryo guy uses it as well."

"Actually, Logan said that Kiryo hasn't even been to it. In fact, the only other ones who have been to it are those Silver Lanterns, the Wrestlers Zangief, Rainbow Mika, and Yamato Nadeshiko, and Green Arrow."

"Are you talking about the Den-Master?" DeMarcus asked, getting a nod from his friends. "Why didn't you bring me and Mei-Ling along to meet him?"

"Mr. Wayne didn't think of it in your case. As for Mei-Ling, it's to keep the Wayne family's secret hidden from her," Shannon explained. She knew that DeMarcus was still left in the dark about Dick Grayson's status.

"Damian, you haven't told Mei-Ling yet?"

"It's not that I don't trust her. I actually do. I just want to protect her. That's why she hasn't seen me with an 'R' on my chest," said the younger Wayne. Little did they know that Ted could definitely hear them, which allowed him to figure out that DeMarcus was let in on the Wayne family's secret.

* * *

During the day, the trio got together with Mei-Ling and hung out. They even went to the arcade to play games, during which a group of guys were trying to harass the young Asian girl. Unfortunately for them, her conditioning improved considerably since the first day Damian and DeMarcus added Shannon to the group. She managed to kick their butts without breaking a sweat, something that got Damian to smirk and quirk an eyebrow. Shannon noticed this and nudged her 'little brother' with her elbow to tease him.

One of the games they played was one that involved knocking milk bottles down with a baseball. Mei-Ling was the first to try, but she only knocked down two, showing that she was still not in the best condition. DeMarcus knocked four off, going for a split. Damian was next to show his strength and knocked down a perfect six, earning a stuffed giraffe as a prize. As he handed it to a blushing Mei-Ling, Shannon repeated the same feat, earning her a stuffed toucan and a high-five from Damian. DeMarcus also muttered the word 'showoffs' to them, getting a smirk. All this time, Tim, as Red Robin, looked down from up above and smiled, happy that Damian had some good friends.

Next up was the boxing ring. DeMarcus decided to try his hand at this. The ring's manager saw his physique and thought that he was the strongest of the group and set him up against one of the toughest boxers, who's name was Mike. Mike turned out to be one of the competitors from Ryu's first tournament like Sagat, Adon, and Birdie. He was African-American and he wore a red T-shirt, blue jeans, and loafers. Though it was a tough fight, with Mei-Ling being unable to watch part of it, DeMarcus came out the winner. Mike congratulated him on a good fight, stating that he was the first one since Ryu to beat him.

After a while of having fun, the group decided to head to Wayne Manor. Since DeMarcus was the only one with a car, he drove them. They dropped Mei-Ling off at her house and went on their way to the mansion. Once they got over there, they saw Sarah's car and an old truck in addition to Bruce's stretch limo. They got out, but Shannon took caution. Alfred greeted them at the door and let them in. When he guided them to the living room, not only did they see Bruce and Sarah, but also Ted. "Shannon, Damian, you're just in time," Sarah greeted. "I'd like you to meet..."

"Coach Grant," Shannon said, interrupting her mother. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm an old friend and mentor of Mr. Wayne here. I figured that he and your mother ought to know how you're doing in Gym Class," said Ted, making Shannon worry.

"Don't worry, Shannon," Bruce said. "We've heard nothing but good things. How was the arcade?"

"It was good. Damian and I managed to win the baseball bottle game while DeMarcus here beat someone in a boxing ring who hasn't been beaten since fighting a roaming martial artist named Ryu."

"Now, Shannon, everyone knows who Ryu is. And you and Damian have even met Ken Masters," said Sarah.

"I know, Mom."

"Shannon, that offer's still good," said Ted.

"Thanks, Coach."

* * *

After a while, Sarah looked at the time and decided it was time to leave for home. Shannon decided to sleep over tomorrow since that was a Saturday night. After Ted and DeMarcus left, both of the Youngblood women got in Sarah's car and drove home. They were happy to have such a strong bond, despite Darren's absence, especially since Bruce got to be a bit of a father figure to Shannon. Still, Sarah was sad that Darren missed their little girl growing up. They got back home and decided to relax, not knowing that they were about to have unwanted company.

The door was knocked down and several men dressed similarly to the ones that Shannon and Wildcat stopped earlier came bursting in. Shannon tried to fight them off, even delivering several punches and kicks, but they proved to be too much for her. One of them knocked her out while the others took Sarah and Isaac hostage. A while later, she came to and realized that her mother and brother had been kidnapped. She saw an old picture of Darren with a switchblade at his face. She removed the knife and turned the picture around, finding a note.

_"Dear Shannon,_

_I invite you to try your skill at rescuing your family. If you succeed, I'll tell you all I know about your old man._

_Wishing you the best of luck,_

_Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face._

_P.S.,_

_If you bring the Bat or any of the children from his family, I won't need a Silver Dollar to tell me whether or not your family dies."_

After reading the letter, Shannon squeezed the picture, angry that Two-Face would threaten her family. This obviously meant that she couldn't involve Robin or anyone else from the Bat Family. She then remembered Ted's words: _"If you need a better way to release your anger, I have a good way to teach you."_ She then figured out what Damian and DeMarcus hadn't told her: that Ted Grant and Wildcat were the same person. Even though she couldn't legally drive, she grabbed Sarah's keys and went out to her car. Luckily, she remembered that there was a 'Grant's Gym' in Downtown Gotham. She drove there as quickly as she could until she got there.

* * *

When she arrived, she saw that it looked like a warehouse with his insignia on it. She got to the door and frantically knocked on it. "Coach!" she exclaimed. "It's me! Shannon!" After a minute, Ted opened the door and saw the bruises she gained. "I need help."

"Come on in and have some hot chocolate, Shannon," Ted said. Shannon told him the whole story while trying to retain her composure. This included the note Two-Face left. At the mere mention of his name, Ted tightened his grip on his armrest. "You know, that son of a bitch Two-Face used to be a well-respected DA in Gotham. It's hard to believe that an accident involving acid changed him for the worst. By why did you come to me?"

"Because, Coach, I know that you're the man behind the mask of Wildcat," she said, surprising Ted. "My parents looked up to you. We even watched old videos of your matches. My mom told me that you could even beat Batman. Heck, even Batman agreed with that statement."

"Shannon, you have no idea how good that made me feel. In my prime, I bet I could've beaten Batman, but now, with Dick Grayson dead and no one occupying the Nightwing spot, Superman's the most likely candidate for that. Not me." This made Shannon realize that Bruce hadn't told Ted about Dick's mission. "Although, this old tiger's still got some fight left in him. I was ready to help Logan take on Hawkman at one point."

"So you'll help me?"

"Of course I'll help, kid. I never turn down someone in need." After that, Ted went to his room and changed into his Wildcat costume. "Now, let's crack some skulls," he said, pounding his fist into his palm as he came out of his room.

* * *

The two of them went to the Underground, which was an area that Shannon knew best. There was one specific spot that they went to in order to find out where Two-Face was hiding: the 'Iceberg Lounge'. Shannon remembered that the last time she was here, Damian wound up fighting Killer Croc alongside Tim while she had a little help taking down the Penguin from Jason. She and Wildcat went through the museum to get to Penguin's part of the 'Lounge'. The main part of the museum was crawling with armed goons, meaning that they had to be careful. Surprisingly, Wildcat agreed with the stealth strategy. They crawled up a T-Rex, jumped to one of the rafters, and got to a vent.

Wildcat opened the vent and Shannon went through. It was easier for her to do so than it was for him due to both his age and physique compared to hers. "...What do you suppose the boss wants to do now?" they heard one goon ask.

"I don't know. He's just relaxing at this moment," said another goon. They looked down below the exit hole and saw a group of them discussing a possible plan of Penguin's. Luckily, Shannon brought a supply bag provided by Batman in case she needed it. She dug into it and pulled out bomb full of knockout gas. She pushed the button and tossed it in the middle of the group. Once it landed, it exploded, knocking the goons out. She put on a gas mask and handed Wildcat one before jumping down. The duo then went to the big hall that connected the museum portion with the 'Lounge' and two other spots.

Like the museum and the 'Lounge', the hall was in very poor condition due to Cobblepot's habits. She looked at her GPS and found the 'Lounge' to be on the left. After making their way to a raft, she took out a grappling hook and fired it at one of the posts in the middle. She released it after pulling them towards to post. She then fired it at another ring on the wall and repeated the same thing. After they got to the next makeshift dock, they headed towards the lounge.

When they got there, they saw that Ozzie cleaned the place up a bit. Naturally, it was a place meant for adults, meaning that there were girls in cages dancing. Shannon knew that she'd have to ruin the fun, though. "...That's right, boys," said the familiar voice of the Penguin as he talked to some of his higher-ranking goons. "I decided that I needed to remodel the place up a bit. It looks much better in my opinion." He then took notice of Shannon and Wildcat approaching their table. "Oh great! What are you doing here? And who's the old fart?"

"'Old fart'?" Wildcat asked. "I've still got plenty of fight in me, pal!"

"Easy, Wildcat," Shannon said, surprising Penguin. "I'm here to talk, Cobblepot."

"Well, ain't that a surprise. First, you team up with this old has-been, and now, you're here to talk. What do you want to talk about, girly? In case you haven't noticed, you have to be 21 to enter."

"I don't care. I just want to know where Two-Face is at."

"Two-Face? Last I heard, Bluebird's friend, the St. Louis Den-Master, worked with Green Arrow to knock him and the Riddler out."

"I have to know, Cobblepot. He's using my family to get to me like you did."

"Why should I care, eh? Last I checked, you had issues against me. Are you going to take them out on Two-Face now?" asked Ozzie, prompting Wildcat to grab him by the shirt and growl.

"You know, I like how you remodeled the place since Robin and I were here last. I think Wildcat can do the same to your face. You could certainly use a nose job."

"A-A-Alright, alright! I'll talk!" Wildcat put the Penguin back in his seat. "Two-Face has a ship docked in a pier. It's called _The Other Side_. You can't miss it because of the black-and-white pattern on the hull that matches his suit. He had the inside of the ship remodeled to look like a courtroom because of his past as District Attorney Harvey Dent."

"Thanks, Cobblepot," said Shannon as she and Wildcat left. When they got out the door, they saw that Penguin's men got ready to fight until they recognized Shannon and Wildcat both. One growl from the latter sent the running. "Nice work on the intimidation factor."

"I'm just glad that some of the common crooks still respect the Wild Man," said the older of the two. "Do you really think that Cobblepot's telling the truth?"

"Please. You scared the truth out of his mouth. Didn't you see the look on his face?"

* * *

When they got to the dock, it was a mirror of when Logan infiltrated the ship, but a bit more difficult. For one, there were guards on the deck of the ship overlooking the pier in addition to the three that were on the pier. Another reason was that there were no wooden crates on the dock, meaning that Shannon and Wildcat couldn't knock out three in one go. It wasn't exactly easy to see a good solution for this mission. Wildcat saw a way to get through to the ship without being spotted, though that wasn't his idea of fun. He pointed it out to Shannon, who took the cue, and climbed on up the ladder. They jumped and caught one of the beams of a crane that overlooked the docks.

They climbed to the top of the cockpit of the crane, and then ran onto the crane's arm. They jumped and grabbed onto another crane arm that was closer to the ship while still avoiding the sights of Two-Face's men. After a bit, they jumped to the crow's nest and Wildcat silently took down the guy in it. They climbed it to the top, making extra sure that they weren't picked up by the snipers, and ran on one last crane arm before jumping to the top roof of the ship. They proceeded to knock out the guards one-by-one until they got all the ones that were on the docks. They then went inside, preparing for a trap.

They got through to the main hall and saw that there was no one around. "Well, they certainly did a good job taking care of the place," Wildcat said as Shannon got out a pair of infrared goggles. "There's no one here."

"Actually, Wildcat, there are. They're just not in the balconies," stated Shannon.

"You got that right, girly!" a voice shouted. The doors opened and the two vigilantes were surrounded by henchmen. Two-Face entered from a platform overlooking the 'courtroom' from the 'judge's' point of view. "So you're little Shannon Youngblood, eh?" Two-Face observed. "You honestly look more like your mother."

"Where is she, Dent? And my brother too!"

"Don't worry your pretty head, little girl. They're perfectly safe. As for you, I see you have the legendary Wildcat with you. I know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, so how did you find me?"

"We scared Penguin shitless, that's how," answered Wildcat.

"Cobblepot. I should've figured." He then dug into his pocket for his signature Silver Dollar. "Tell me, Little Youngblood: did ol' Bats teach you about my way of making decisions?"

"Yeah, he told me," Shannon said. "You have to rely on some piece of whacked-out pocket change."

"You have a wit just like your mother," Two-Face said. "As Logan Washburn has observed before, this Silver Dollar represents me. It's what decides what I do when I have people's fates in my hands. Here goes in your case: If you get Good Heads, you get your mother and your brother back. Bad Heads will leave you without a family. And just so there's no surprises, I'll warn you ahead of time: the second toss is for you." He tossed the coin into the air, leaving Shannon and Wildcat to look on in anticipation. He caught the coin and put it on the back of his other hand. When he removed it, he narrowed his good eye. "It seems like I've got bad luck when it comes to vigilantes. Your family's safe, little girl."

"Thank God that they are."

"That's not to say the same for you, though. Good Heads grants you and your family freedom to walk away from here unharmed. You can even take Wildcat with you. Bad Heads and you alone are dead."

"I have a better idea, Dent!" Wildcat shouted, getting the former DA's attention. "How about instead of relying on a coin toss, you have the chance to spar with me while Shannon and her family stay safe in the jury box. Consider it Wildcat's court case."

"Wildcat, what are you doing?" Shannon whispered, just as confused as Dent's henchmen.

"Easy, kid. I'm going to prove to these guys that just because I'm old, it doesn't mean I can't throwdown. Besides, I like to fight and Harvey there likes court cases. Consider this the middle of the road."

"Alright, Wildcat," Two-Face said. "You've got my interest. This is going to be fun."

"I thought you might see it that way. If I win, we're free to go and you take your ass straight to jail. If you win," Wildcat said, worrying Shannon. "Shannon and her family get to go home and you get to kill me." This definitely worried Shannon, as well as her family, who was brought out by one of Two-Face's henchmen.

"I like the sound of that. Put the Youngblood family in the jury box!"

"Are you guys okay?" Shannon asked Sarah and Isaac.

"We're fine, Shannon," Sarah said. "Thank you."

"Who's the old guy?" asked Isaac.

"He's a legend, Isaac," answered Shannon. "One we're about to see in action."

Back on the floor, Wildcat and Two-Face put up their fists. During this thing, the old man started to smirk. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this court case is now in session! All rise for the honorable Judge Wildcat! I'd like you to meet the jury and the executioner!" exclaimed the vigilante, putting his fists up and getting the Youngblood women to cheer. "Mr. Dent, you have been charged in the past with multiple counts of murder..." He landed a punch on Two-Face's bad face. "...extortion..." Another to the good face. "...robbery..." One to the gut. "...and more recently, kidnapping!" One last one to the chin. "How do you plead?"

"Guilty," Two-Face said. "But not sorry."

"I'd figured you'd say that. The prime evidence I bet is on the wrists of your kidnapping victims! Am I correct?"

"Yes you are, you old bastard!" Two-Face tried to attack Wildcat, but he kept dodging and blocking every one of his attacks, showcasing his skills as a boxer and impressing the Youngbloods and, unknowingly, Batman and Robin. Finally, Two-Face screwed up enough that it left room for Wildcat to counter his attack.

"In your charges, Two-Face, the jury finds you guilty! Your sentence is 1,000 cans of Whoop-Ass!" exclaimed the old boxer, continuously delivering punch after punch to Two-Face. The more punches he delivered, the more it excited the Youngblood family, and also the more it scared Harvey's henchmen. After many punches to the stomach, face, and jaw, Wildcat finished with rapid punches as if he was beating a speed bag and, finally, a strong punch to the chin. "Case closed! Now turn yourself into the police!"

"Wildcat, that was awesome!" exclaimed Isaac.

"You did it!" said Sarah.

"Wildcat, thanks for everything," Shannon said, getting Wildcat to smile. They looked and saw the henchmen getting ready to fight, but a smokescreen came up and got most of them. Only one of the ones that it didn't get was stupid enough to attack Shannon, receiving her boot in their face as a result.

"I would run if I were you idiots," said the intimidating voice of Batman. The henchmen left their boss behind and ran for their lives. The smoke cleared at the same time, revealing the Dynamic Duo. "Are you guys okay?"

"Never better, Batman, especially thanks to Wildcat here," said Shannon.

"I saw what you did, Wildcat. Great work."

"Ah, it's no problem for me, Bats," said Wildcat. "I'm just happy I could fight someone this time. Most of the time, when I team up with Logan, he takes the center stage." Shannon went over to Two-Face's unconscious form, just as he was beginning to stir. "What are you doing, kid?"

"Okay, Dent, you better talk," Shannon said in an intimidating tone, concerning the others that were present in the room. Sarah, Robin, Wildcat, and Batman knew that this was about Shannon's missing father.

"Right, your old man," Two-Face wearily said. "Kid, Darren wasn't always the nice guy you grew up admiring. He had debts that he could barely pay. He was quite a gambler, but only betting the high stuff when he knew he'd win, which was a good portion. He caught my interest, so I offered him a deal he couldn't refuse: $200 a month and I'd leave him and his family alone. Even after he disappeared years ago, I still left you alone until tonight. Cobblepot knows about this deal, which means that he's as much your problem as I am."

"Yeah, but he sent Bane after my mom and my brother, and Killer Croc after Robin. That was cruel, but so were you."

"At least I didn't target that Boy Blunder like I frequently did Red Robin. You should thank your dad the next time you see him, little girl. He spared you guys."

"Well I have a new deal for you, you double-sided bastard, and this goes for Cobblepot and the other villains as well: You can go after me directly, but leave my family and friends out of it!" she exclaimed, knocking Two-Face out with a punch.

"Are you alright, Shannon?" Sarah asked. Shannon took a breather and gave her mother a sad nod. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"I don't blame you, Mom. But now, I have to count on Logan and the Bat family to help me look for Dad."

"We'd be more than happy to help, Shannon," Robin said, getting Batman to nod in agreement.

"Thanks, guys...for everything."

"And don't forget, we know a guy who can help you channel your anger more positively," Wildcat said with a wink, which Shannon returned.

CHAPTER 28 END

* * *

**Okay, so that didn't take as long as I thought. As I said before, I'm bumping the rating to M as of this chapter due to the nudity and the coarse language used by Wildcat. That's the first time in any of my fics that I've used those words.**

**By the way, a little trivia for you: Mike is one of the CPU characters from the original **_**Street Fighter**_** game. Due to a fear of a lawsuit from Mike Tyson, Capcom's done their damnedest to establish the fact that Mike and Balrog are two different characters, even though Balrog's name in the Japanese versions of each game is 'Mike Bison'. The Name switches are as follows (and I'm including other characters whose names were changed in the localized versions as well):**

**Balrog (JAP)/Vega (ENG)**  
**Vega (JAP)/M. Bison (ENG)**  
**Mike Bison (JAP)/Balrog (ENG)**  
**Gouki (JAP)/Akuma (ENG)**  
**Nash (JAP)/Charlie (ENG)**

**Of course, it should be interesting to note that, as of **_**Street Fighter IV**_**, Capcom has officially canonized Charlie's name in the States as 'Charlie Nash'. In **_**Street Fighter V**_**, he goes by 'Nash' instead. Back to Mike, of all the CPU-controlled opponents, he and Joe are the only two who are not featured in any other **_**Street Fighter**_** media. Sagat's next appearance was in **_**SFII**_**, Birdie and Adon's in **_**Street Fighter Alpha**_**, Gen's in **_**Alpha 2,**_** Eagle's in **_**Capcom vs. SNK 2**_**, and Retsu and Geki in the comics. Lee's grandsons Yun and Yang appear in **_**SFIII: New Generation.**_


	29. Bonkers Returns!

**Okay, so it's been a while since I used Bonkers. As such, Nate's going to be the focus on this one. I'll include Kiryo, Angel, and Arsenal as well.**

* * *

**Bonkers Returns!**

The sky was cloudy at Coast City. This meant that it was going to rain. Of course, there were some people that either had to stay out for some reason, such as Hal Jordan watching over the city, were too stupid to find shelter, or were homeless with no place to go. Of course, with the community service that Sharel had been doing around the city lately, the chances of the latter happening were decreasing. For this, the people were definitely grateful, especially since they felt that they needed more heroes that connected with them.

In the cave, though, Nate couldn't exactly be bothered with Coast City at the moment. Right now, he was trying to work on a formula to replicate what Bat-Mite did to make a new power battery. It wasn't exactly easy since the little imp perfected it while he was fighting Gardner. It pretty much gave him a headache just thinking about it. Suddenly, someone handed him a cup of coffee. "Thanks," he said before realizing two things. "Wait a minute...I don't drink Starbucks." He then looked to the other realization. "Bonkers!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and aiming his ring at his foe.

"Woah-ho-ho! Easy there, pally! I'm not here to hurt you," Bonkers said back. "There's no need for that." He snapped his fingers and made a weight suddenly appear on Nate's wrist, making his arm drop to the ground. "Oh, that was loud."

"And it's painful."

"Oh now, c'mon. You can handle it. I read about that time you spent training with Zangief. I do believe that Green Arrow guy is quite the character, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's pretty funny. Now do you mind telling me what the heck you're talking about? And while you're at it, get this weight off of me!"

"Only if you listen to what I have to say will I make it disappear."

"Alright! Alright! I'll listen!" Nate yelled. Bonkers made the weight disappear as promised. "Now what do you want? And make it quick before I blast you out of here."

"I swear, Logan rubbed off on you. Alright, too the point then. I actually came here to make a truce."

"What kind of a 'truce'?"

"It's just a basic truce. I even brought you presents. Look in the spare room," said Bonkers.

"Okay...wait. I don't have a spare room," Nate said.

"You do now. Consider it the backdoor of your cave." Nate was confused at the statement, but further explored his cave. True to what Bonkers said, he found a door he hasn't seen before. He opened it and, to his surprise, saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex with toys of some sort. "You like?"

"You got me a T-Rex!? Those things are carnivores!"

"Yes, but this one's friendly." The minute Bonkers said that, the T-Rex nuzzled and licked Nate. "Her name is Daffodil and she's the friendliest T-Rex I could find. She could even be the mascot for your team."

"It's nice to meet you, Daffodil." Daffodil let out a happy growl. "Okay, Bonkers, What's this really all about?"

"Well, before I get to the real reason, I'd like to say that I would like another chapter."

"I know you're from another dimension, but you know full well that I still don't know what the heck you're talking about."

"Oh right. Well then, I have another present for you. It's under your bed."

"Oh this can't be good." Nate went to his room and looked under his bed as Bonkers said. He pulled out a 'Playboy' magazine and immediately knew he was going to go red in the face. He looked back at Bonkers, who gave him the 'go on' sign, and opened up the magazine. He came across the centerfold and wound up with a nosebleed so hard that he fainted. In the centerfold was Sharel, who was wearing very skimpy white lingerie. It showed her with her hair messier than it usually is, the 'panties' actually a thong, the bra being spaghetti-strapped and barely containing her Triple-D-Cup breasts, and no stockings, leaving nearly every bit of her body exposed.

Bonkers walked over to the sight laughing his butt off. This was the kind of reaction that he was expecting. "I'm going to guess that you liked that too. Why don't you get up?" Nate did as he was asked and glared at Bonkers. "Sharel made me promise not to send that picture anywhere. Try as I might, though, my prankster nature got to me. After she came here, I put that in that specific magazine and reserved it just for me."

"Then why give it to me?"

"As part of our truce. You like Sharel, right?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't tell her yet."

"And you know I like her.

"Where are you getting at, Bonkers?"

"Well I think it should be obvious where I'm getting at, Nathaniel. There is one guy who we have to factor in. It's the one guy here that Sharel has a bit of a crush on."

"What are you talking about? Sharel hasn't given any clue as to who she likes here."

"Oh no? Let me get something in that head of yours. You do remember each and every one of your guys' interactions with Logan's team, right? Who is the one guy she always hugs? Or are you not paying attention?"

"You mean Logan? Why would Sharel try to take him away from Cammy? It doesn't make sense."

"No, you dolt. I swear, for a Silver Lantern, you don't seem to want to use your head. I'm talking about the first one of his bunch that actually landed a hit on me during our last encounter, not the one who sicked that fat idiot Rufus on me."

"You mean Kiryo, don't you? I thought Sharel was just being friendly with him."

"Oh, she's trying to be more than friendly with him. Luckily, for her sake, he brushes her off and moves on. It's not like she'll give up, though. Of course, it doesn't surprise me that Kiryo is a hit with the ladies; look who one of his ancestors is. In case you haven't noticed, that Logan has a flirtatious rivalry with Juri Han, a friends-with-benefits relationship with a hot Interpol Officer, a cute teenage ninja girl with a crush on him, a sexy Kryptonian bombshell who likes and trusts him, and has even been asked by a C.I.A. agent in her thirties to be a stepfather to her daughter, who is 12 years his junior. And don't even get me started on his ex. She and some of her fellow Soul Reaper ladies still try to get in bed with him, including her mentor. It should come as no surprise that Kiryo would wind up in the same spots as his ancestor."

"Okay, Bonkers, say I believe you. What other girls have Kiryo in their sights?"

"Oh, now let's see here...So far, there's only one other one. A real cutie as well," Bonkers said.

"Okay..." Nate said, now curious as to who Bonkers was talking about.

* * *

It turned out that the 'cutie' in question was Angel. She was walking in the park in St. Louis, hoping to surprise Kiryo. It turns out that ever since he saved her from the Mad Gear Gang before teaming up with Guy, Angel had been trying to get a hold of her savior. As far as she was concerned, she owed him quite a bit, but he didn't feel like she did. Still, that didn't stop her from trying to do something for him. It was the least she could do. As she sat down, she opened up a picnic basket that she carried and took out an aluminum pan. She saw that Kiryo was on the rooftops, so she opened up the top of the pan and held it up.

Right now, Kiryo was chasing down Mirror Master, who had just broken out of prison. As a sort of answer to Logan teaming up with Green Arrow to take him down, Kiryo teamed up with Arsenal, whom he had just met. Logan had let him know that Roy was the original Speedy long before this, so working with him wasn't much of a problem. Arsenal got his bow ready to fire at Mirror Master, who smirked before activating one of his mirrors. Kiryo saw this and jumped up, sending a Trick Knife in front of the criminal. It turned out to be rubber cement, which caught Mirror Master on his feet. Just as he about got out, though, Arsenal fired a Trick Arrow from his bow and caught him, the arrow being a bola. "Nice plan, Kiryo," said Roy. "Logan was right. You are smart."

"Thanks," Kiryo responded. "To tell you the truth, Logan and Cammy haven't had much alone time, so I needed to get away from them."

"It seems to me like you needed to start working with others as well." He then saw that Kiryo started sniffing around. "What's up with you?"

"Can't you smell that?"

"No I can't. You must have Logan's sense of smell. What does it smell like?"

"It...It smells like...stir fry." The two vigilantes look to where the smell was coming from. They saw Angel holding up a wok that, sure enough, had stir fry in it. "Angel?"

"Oh, so you know that girl?" Roy asked in a teasing manner, getting a glare from his partner. "Okay, I'll take Mirror Master in and you go have fun on your date."

"Arsenal, it's not a date!" Kiryo shouted, only to have Roy wave it off. "Never mind. Jackass."

* * *

As Angel waited for Kiryo, a couple of punks came up to hit on her. Before they could, though, Kiryo had 'Flash Stepped' over to her and scared them away. "And how are you today?" she asked her hero.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Smelling this stir fry reminded me of how hungry I was today."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Just breakfast, but that's it." He then took a taste of the stir fry and smiled. "This stuff is delicious, Angel!"

"I'm glad you like it." She then got an insecure look as she asked her next question. "So, Kiryo…" she began. "Do you…Do you have anyone special in your life?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, do you have someone close enough to you that you try to protect and support as much as you can?" Given Kiryo's intelligence, he knew just what she was talking about now.

"Oh, you mean like a girlfriend, don't you?" Angel nodded, still worried about the answer. "No I don't. Although, there is one girl who tries to flirt with me. One of my guardians doesn't like her, though, so she shuts her down," Kiryo said, hiding his origins. This made Angel breathe a sigh of relief. "So, what about you, Angel?"

"O-Oh me? I don't think you want to know about me."

"Sure I do. Of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Um, well…My father is one of the wealthiest people in the States. Of course, he's got nothing on Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, or Ken Masters. He does, however own several stores across the country. You're familiar with WestWare, right?"

"Yeah, I'm familiar with them. Why?"

"My father, Oscar Westhelm II, owns that franchise. My grandfather owns the main company, Westhelm Incorporated. I bet you could figure out his name."

"Oscar Westhelm?" Angel nodded. "Let me guess: You have a brother named Oscar Westhelm III, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Dad's training him to take over WestWare while he would take over Westhelm Incorporated. Of course, that would only happen if Grandpa either retires or dies." She was definitely happy that this was breaking the ice between them.

"And what about you? Do you do anything special?"

"Well…I do. It involves using my mind like my relatives, but I can't exactly tell you…Not out here anyway. But I digress, the reason I wanted you out here was to ask you a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Kiryo asked.

* * *

Back at the cave, Bonkers was having his fun tormenting Nate, especially when it came to the 'relationship' between Kiryo and Sharel. Nate was curious about the other girl who had Kiryo in her sights. Bonkers could definitely see the eagerness in his tormentee's eyes. "This other girl," Nate said. "What's her name?"

"Her name is Angel Westhelm. She is a member of a rich family," Bonkers answered. "She didn't marry into it; Instead, she was born into it. After all, she is in her younger twenties and very shy, very much Sharel's opposite."

"I thought Sharel was in her twenties."

"Oh, she is too. And they both have it bad for Kiryo. It's a shame that Sharel only knows he comes from the future. I wonder what would happen if Angel were to figure out..."

"Look, Bonkers, I can appreciate that you're trying to keep Sharel from going with Kiryo, but I really wish you didn't interfere with everyone's lives like you do."

"Oh now, Nate, you know full well that you and Sharel were the only ones I bothered. That fat idiot was there already and Logan, Kiryo, and Cammy interfered. Plot armor, if you will." Bonkers then looked as if he was talking to a camera. "I've had it with you, buster. You better cut that out."

"Will you quit talking to yourself? It makes it seem like you need to go to the mental hospital."

"I hear that a lot from you guys. Look, it's obvious you need a rest, so you take a nap and I'll be on my way," Bonkers said, getting a suspicious look from Nate. "I mean it. Just take your nap." He left as he said. After a bit, Nate got into bed after one last look at the centerfold in the magazine. He felt that the bed was a little rough. Finally, he had enough, so he removed the covers and turned on a light.

"TURN OUT THAT LIGHT!" exclaimed a voice.

"Sorry," Nate said, turning off the light. Suddenly, he realized that there shouldn't be anyone else in the cave. He turned the light back on and saw four skeletons in his bed. Each one wore a T-shirt and shorts. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shouted a bunch of voices, to Bonkers' delight. "H-H-HOW DID YOU GUYS GET IN HERE!?"

"We were going to ask you the same thing, bub," said one of the skeletons.

"You idiot. You forgot to lock the door," another one said.

"I didn't know where it was at."

"Use your brain, you numbskull."

"What's a brain?" a third one asked.

"I don't know. I thought Neable would know."

"Don't look at me," said the fourth skeleton, obviously identified as Neable.

"WAIT!" Nate shouted, getting the attention of the four. "You guys have some explaining to do."

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Kiryo was actually enjoying his time with Angel. However, it was the favor that sort of threw him for a loop. Angel had asked for Kiryo to train her so she would be able to defend herself should a threat like the Mad Gear Gang come up again. Initially against it, he eventually backed down and decided to train her. Right now, they were on a rooftop to practice some Tai Chi movements. Kiryo was able to do this due to training with Chun-Li, so he was also able to help Angel out in that department. "Remember, Angel," he said. "When practicing Tai Chi, you must make your movements as smooth as water."

"As smooth as water..." Angel repeated.

"Imagine a trickling stream in the forest, the sounds of nature, and the touch of the wind."

"Trickling stream...sounds of nature...touch of the wind..." All of this was going on as they practiced their movements. Amazingly, Angel proved to be a fast learner. Unknowingly, this has heightened her senses to where she could sense spirits. This has managed to get past Kiryo as well. This whole display was being witnessed by Arsenal, who, naturally, was getting impatient. "Someone's coming," she said. Since Kiryo could sense his Spirit Signature, he didn't open his eyes.

"What do you need Arsenal?" he asked.

"I was wondering what the hell you were doing," said Arsenal. "Don't tell me you and your girlfriend are doing some sort of Yoga crap." This statement caused the two to lose their balance. Angel felt embarrassed and ashamed, scared that Kiryo would get onto her. Instead, he targeted Arsenal for a remark.

"Arsenal, if you don't want me to tell her your real name, I suggest you get out of here." Since the last thing Arsenal needed was to have his identity revealed, he complied with the suggestion and left the two of them alone. "Never mind him. He's what Logan would call an 'arrogant jackass'. Shall we take it from the top?"

"Y-Yes. By the way, what is Arsenal's real name?" she asked.

"Promise you won't tell your family?" Angel nodded. "His real name is Roy Harper, who was the original Speedy. At any time he begins to harass you in public, just make that little threat and he'll back off." She giggled at the advice, to Kiryo's satisfaction. They got back into their Tai Chi movements. After a bit, he sensed a certain malicious force. _'What's Bonkers doing back?'_ he thought. _'I hope he leaves Nate and Sharel alone. I also hope he doesn't come here.' _This didn't escape Angel's notice, though.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"I just sensed an old enemy, one you should stay away from."

"What's his name?"

"I better not let the Silver Lanterns meet you," he said with a grin. "His name's Bonkers and he has a tendency to drive a man up the wall."

"Is he your archenemy or something?" Angel asked.

"No, he's not. My archenemy is someone you should never meet at all. Bonkers is the ex-boyfriend of one of my friends, though he doesn't realize it yet."

"I see..."

* * *

Back at the cave, Nate was pinching the bridge of his nose. The reason was that the skeletons were driving him nuts. In addition to Neable, there was Keable, Bubba, and Sid. One could consider them the Three Stooges Plus One. To Nate, they were some of the most annoying beings in any universe. Simply put, he wished that he could just get rid of them. "So let me get this straight: This guy you call the ''B' Man' sent you here because you were tired of hanging around graveyards?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that," one of the skeletons said. "He has a kind heart, so he couldn't just leave us in our misery."

"Which one are you again?"

"I'm Sid. That's Bubba, Neable, and Keable."

"I know that already! Why are you guys here of all places?"

"Because the 'B' Man thought you could use some friends," said another one of the skeletons.

"That's considerate, but why are you guys in my room? Can't you find your own?"

"We had one in mind, but we found some scary pictures in it."

"And what was in the pictures?"

"Yo Mama!" one of the skeletons exclaimed, getting a laugh from the skeletons. This allowed Nate to figure out that this was Neable.

"Get out of my room!" The shouting proved enough to scare the skeletons to where they scrambled around and crashed into each other, leaving a pile of dust behind. "Finally..." he said. He got back in bed for a nap, unaware that the skeletons were still in the cave. He lied down and turned off the light so he could go to sleep. Suddenly, he heard band music playing. "Great, they got to the musical instruments. Wait a minute. I don't have musical instruments." He got out of bed and opened his door, only to have the music blare in his ears due to the echo in the cave. "Hey! Cut that out!"

The skeletons, who were on drums, cymbals, a trumpet, and macarenas, all stopped. "Hiya, Nate!"

"Where did you guys get those?" Nate asked.

"You mean you didn't know they were in here? We found them in the closet there," said a skeleton.

"Which one are you?"

"I'm Sid." Nate went to open the closet, only to have a bunch of instruments fall on him. Finally figuring out who the 'B' Man was, he angrily popped his head up.

"BONKERS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The madman suddenly appeared and grinned.

"Yeeeesssss?" he asked in a manner similar to Frank Nelson, annoying Nate.

"Do you mind getting rid of these boneheads!? They are a real pain in my neck!"

"And here I thought that Logan's ex-girlfriend was cruel. These guys needed a new place to go to and they obviously couldn't go anywhere else."

"How about back to the graveyard?"

"Oh, now c'mon!" exclaimed a skeleton. "We don't want to go back to that place! It's spooky!"

"You guys are skeletons! If anyone scares anyone, it's you!"

"Way to stereotype us!" the skeletons yelled.

"Listen, Nate, these guys needed a good place where they wouldn't be bored, but they won't get into any kind of trouble. This hideout was the best place I could think of," Bonkers said. "Sorry if it's an inconvenience to you, but like it or not, they're your house guests. Help them to feel right at home, would you?" After that, the interdimensional villain disappeared, leaving Nate to deal with the boneheads.

"Great...I had better call Sharel," Nate groaned.

* * *

As it just so happens, Sharel was in the city trying to find something else to do. She just handed Old Man Fumbler his laundry and was back in the city bored out of her skull. The rain didn't help much since she didn't have an umbrella. She saw Hal flying down to join her. "Green Baron," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Sharel, how's it going?" Hal asked.

"It's going fine, but I'm still trying to find something else to do. I'm not exactly ready to go back to the cave yet and Cammy doesn't want me anywhere near Kiryo while she's away from him."

"Given that he's as much her descendant as he is Logan's, I can't really blame her on that. Factor in that Cammy's a former Shadaloo Doll who became a member of a British Military Service and you have one deadly mother figure."

"I know. The sad part is that I don't think I'll ever gain her approval. Logan's a little more laidback."

"Not by much." Suddenly, they heard something ringing. Sharel snapped her fingers and a cellphone materialized.

"Hello?"

_"Sharel, I need you back at the cave right now,"_ said Nate, who was on the other end of the line. _"We sort of have a problem."_

"Nathaniel, what's wrong?" Sharel asked in a worried tone. This caught Hal's attention.

_"I'll explain later. I just need you to get back here pronto." _He then hung up the phone.

"It sounds to me like we need to get back to the cave," Hal said, getting a nod from Sharel.

* * *

After a bit of flying through the storm, Hal and Sharel got back to the Silver Lanterns' Cave and saw Nate trapped under a bunch of musical instruments. They also took notice of some skeletons having a party, which included a disco ball. One of the skeletons even acted as a DJ. "Nathaniel, you never said anything about a party," Sharel said with a smile on her face.

"This party isn't my idea," Nate groaned. Hal figured Nate was tired, so he used his own ring to move the instruments off of him while Sharel picked him back up. "Thanks, Mr. Jordan."

"Hey, it's no problem," Hal said. "Care to introduce us to your new friends?"

"I don't know if 'friends' would be the right word, considering who brought them in the first place. These boneheads are named Neable, Keable, Bubba, and Sid. As you can tell, it's hard to tell them apart."

"But last I checked, skeletons aren't supposed to be moving around."

"Tell me something I don't know. Unfortunately, these guys and the musical instruments are just some of the 'gifts' left behind by a total prankster." This caught Sharel's notice. "Did either Sharel or Logan tell you about Bonkers?" Suddenly, Sharel wasn't in a partying mood. In fact, she was angry, something that the skeletons took notice of. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned him."

"Tell me, Nathaniel," she said in a scary tone. "What else did Bonkers leave behind?" Nate and Hal gulped upon hearing the tone, knowing that she was on a warpath.

"Um...He left behind a T-Rex in that room over there." She looked to where Nate was pointing and walked towards the door. When she opened it, she saw the T-Rex playing with her toys. "Yeah, apparently, he named her Daffodil. She appears to be friendly with members of this team and despise people we don't like all that well."

"...Okay, so Daffodil doesn't have to go. The skeletons, on the other hand, do have to leave."

"Why would a prankster like this 'Bonkers' character leave you some presents?" Hal asked.

"Simple, Hal," Nate said. "It's mainly to annoy us. Sure, the T-Rex could be useful, but I can't really say the same about the skeleton quartet." This got the boneheads to fear for their lives. They ran around trying to escape, but Sharel caught them with her ring. "Wow. Had I thought about that sooner, I would've done it myself."

"There's something you need to know about women, Nate," Hal said, getting Nate's attention. "They're smarter than we are."

"I'm curious about something," Sharel said, giving the boneheads a threatening glare. "I wonder how Daffodil will like the taste of your limbs..."

"PLEASE DON'T!" the skeletons begged. "THAT DINOSAUR SCARES US! WE DON'T WANT TO BE GROUND INTO DUST!"

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't."

"Aren't you a hero?" asked a skeleton. "You're not supposed to kill!"

"Bubba, we're skeletons!" exclaimed another skeleton. "We're already dead."

"Thanks for pointing that out, Neable," Nate said.

"Dude, I'm Sid," Sid said.

"Then which one's Neable?" Hal asked.

"Yo Mama!" Neable shouted, getting Nate and Hal to shake their heads.

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Kiryo and Angel had just gotten finished loosening up and preparing for combat practice. Arsenal was watching as well, bored out of his mind. Since Angel was unarmed, Kiryo decided to stick to hand-to-hand combat for this one. Of course, Angel was a little nervous, but she had a goal in mind, so she stuck that nervousness in the back of her mind. "Are you ready, Angel?" Kiryo asked.

"I'm ready!" Angel exclaimed. Kiryo let her have the first attack, which was a leaping crescent kick. Since she had no ground, though, Kiryo grabbed her ankle and pushed her back to her starting position. He decided to go on the offensive this time and attack her with a punch. Though scared, she blocked it along with several more punches that came her way. Using what Kiryo taught her in finding her opponent's opening, she struck him in the chest with her palm and sent him back.

"That wasn't bad." This praise made Angel smile with joy. The two of them charged at each other again, but Arsenal got bored. He notched his bow and aimed a Trick Arrow at the two of them, hoping to have some fun. After Angel's latest counter, they noticed the arrow heading towards them, so they dodged. "Arsenal!" Kiryo exclaimed.

"What?" Roy asked. "I'm just having a little fun!" Kiryo and Angel looked at each other and the former smirked, making Angel blush and the original Speedy worry.

"You want some fun? I'll show you fun!" Kiryo then 'Flash Stepped' behind Roy and grabbed him in a Full Nelson. Angel followed that up by jumping and kicking Arsenal in the stomach with both of her feet, knocking the wind out of him. The two of them shared a high five, not knowing that Soifon was watching the scene while laughing.

_'Kiryo, my boy, you make some interesting friends,'_ she thought.

* * *

Back at Nate's place, the skeletons were giving Hal and Nate a real headache. Sharel actually found them to be pretty fun, but she understood where they were coming from when they said that they were getting on their nerves. Right now, the boneheads had Sharel in the lead for a Samba Train playing macarenas. "Care for a margarita, Nate?" Hal asked.

"Thanks, Hal, but I don't drink," said Nate.

"Well, at least somebody's having fun," said Bonkers, who just popped up again. This made the music stop when Sharel saw him.

"I thought you left already."

"I did, but I just thought I'd see how you're getting along. And this must be the Green Lantern Hal Jordan." Hal just waved two fingers at him without saying a thing. "From the looks of things, you guys are getting along greatly."

"And you just had to crash the party," Sharel sarcastically said, shooting a glare at her ex.

"Oh now, Sharel, don't be a party pooper." Bonkers snapped his fingers and attempted to pour a bucket of cow manure on her, only to have her dodge and hit the skeletons. All four of them were screaming obscenities and cursing Bonkers out. "Hehe, my bad, boys," he said. "I missed."

"Are you losing your sight, Bonkers?" Sharel asked mockingly.

"Very funny, Dear. It's good to know you haven't lost your sense of humor." He then snapped his fingers and made a bear appear behind Sharel to grab and restrain her. He did the same thing to Hal. "Now where were we? Oh yes! Nathaniel, I do believe that we have to remove the major roadblock in our way to getting our prize...well, more like before we continue fighting over it," Bonkers said before seeing the two of them struggle to get free of the bears. "Don't even think about warping, Sharel. That bear seals your powers."

"Arsnot," she said through gritted teeth. Bonkers smirked before getting blasted by Nate's ring. It sent him straight to a wall in the cave, much to Sharel and Hal's shock.

"If you think I'm helping you get rid of Kiryo, especially after you trapped Sharel and Hal, then you've got another thing coming!" Nate exclaimed. "Besides, Logan would kill me if I even tried it!"

"Wait!" Sharel yelled. "You want to have Kiryo killed!? Bonkers, how could you!?"

"Don't worry, Sharel," Hal said. "Kiryo can take care of himself. Kid's got a good head on his shoulders, about like Nate here. Speaking of which..." The Green Lantern focused his power towards busting out of the arms of the bear that was holding him. He got free and blasted his bear before attempting to get to Sharel.

"Don't worry about me, Green Baron. Curiosity doesn't have the same effect as Willpower, so you need to use it to help Nathaniel."

"No!" Nate shouted, surprising his comrades. "I'm getting sick and tired of people fighting my battles for me! Sure, I beat Brother Blood and I managed to go toe-to-toe with the 'Red Cyclone', but other than those two, I haven't fought a lot of my own battles! So let me handle Bonkers this time!" Hal saw the determination in Nate's eyes and nodded. As he went to free Sharel, Nate got ready to fight the madman.

"If you're going to fight him, Nate, you're going to need a little more room," Hal said. "Do what Batman said Logan did to Gardner and take it outside." As soon as Bonkers recovered, Nate took the Green Lantern's advice and grabbed him by the face. The two of them got outside before Nate slammed Bonkers into the cliffside wall. Bonkers flew up and got behind Nate with a paddle. He slammed the Silver Lantern down and made him hit the ground face-first. The madman teleported and kept hitting Nate in the rear end with a paddle.

The Original Silver Lantern had enough, so he surged a lot of power and sent Bonkers back. Upon his next attack, Bonkers changed to a form that looked like Leatherface with blonde hair. He even had Nate's current trauma: a chainsaw. "This is for rejecting my gifts, Nathaniel!" Bonkers yelled. "You should've worked with me!" Bonkers attacked Nate with the chainsaw, forcing him to dodge and even put up two shield constructs, one on each arm as tall as he was with the Silver Lantern logo on them.

"You're not going to kill Kiryo!" Nate said. "And you're also not going to stop me from defending him, even if I have to deal with a chainsaw!" The Silver Lantern pushed Bonkers back, grabbed him by the feet, and tossed him about 10' behind him. "By the way, you used up what was left in the gas tank trying to kill me!"

"I did?" Bonkers looked at the gas gauge and saw that Nate was right. "Oh, it looks like I did. Give me a second!" The maniac made a gas can appear out of nowhere and proceeded to fill it up, not knowing that Nate was about to take a shot. The Silver Lantern shot both the can and the chainsaw and blew them up, sending Bonkers backwards and knocking him out cold. Nate wiped the sweat off of his forehead as Hal and Sharel joined him.

"Let me guess," Hal said after observing the scenario. "Gas can?"

"And a chainsaw," replied Nate. "He didn't bother to use common sense and see that this was a good opportunity for a trick."

"Which you managed to do," said Sharel, getting a nod from her friend. "Unfortunately, since you knocked him out, we're stuck with the boneheads and Daffodil...not that I mind the latter."

"Speaking of Kiryo, though, I wonder how he's doing."

* * *

Back in St. Louis, Kiryo and Angel were relaxing in the grass at the park after a long day of training. It hurt the girl, but she had fun at the same time, especially since she and Kiryo tied Arsenal to a tree. She knew her crush wasn't tired, though, since what they did was basic. She could also tell that Kiryo was at peace, wondering if whoever Bonkers was annoying took care of him. Kiryo knew it was Nate, but he also knew Sharel and Hal were there too. "Those stars look beautiful tonight," Angel said.

"No kidding," Kiryo responded with a smile. "Have you ever found the constellations?"

"I tried. No luck."

"Well, there, we can see the Big Dipper. And there's the Little Dipper. And right there, we have Orion's Belt."

"Very good, Kiryo," said a voice. They looked and saw that Soifon finally decided to reveal herself. "I'll have to take a guess and say you learned all of this when you were a kid."

"That's right."

"Well, I-I have to get back home," Angel said. "I-I'll see you tomorrow, Kiryo."

"See you!" After Angel left, Kiryo and Soifon spoke in a low enough tone that Arsenal couldn't hear them. "So what are you doing here, Auntie Soifon?" he asked.

"I came here to check on you and see how you're doing. When I saw you with that 'Angel' girl, I couldn't help but smile. You are more like your ancestor than you think."

"How so?"

"Simple. You attract pretty women to you, including Angel and Sharel. Logan's got several pining for him. Too many to count, unfortunately."

"Very funny."

* * *

While Kiryo was talking with Soifon, Nate and Sharel were back in the cave. The boneheads were in their own room tucked away sleeping (as was Daffodil), leaving the two Silver Lanterns to sit in front of the TV. "So, I hear you've been doing a lot of community service lately," Nate said, scooting closer to her.

"You better believe it. It's fun," Sharel said with a smile on her face. Nate knew that they were alone in the cave, so he tried to lean in and kiss his companion, who looked on her phone and saw that she got a text from a friend. "Oh right! I have to meet my new friend Marley down at the restaurant for a girls' night out." She then vanished and unknowingly made Nate fall off the couch. He then snapped his fingers at a missed chance. As fate would have it, it was going to be a long while before Sharel discovered his feelings for her.

CHAPTER 29 END

* * *

**Okay, that was a long one, mainly because I had to find a way to stretch it out as much as I could and including scenes where Kiryo spends time with Angel is the best way I knew how. Still, it was fun to write, especially when I got to the main battle itself. The next one is going to include Kiryo and Angel as well, along with a DC Bombshell and a new OC who functions as an archenemy of both of them. Cloak and Patience will be in it, as will Logan, Cammy, Nate, Sharel and the first of the **_**Street Fighter V**_** DLC characters: Alex! Stay tuned!**


	30. The Evil of the Green Thumb!

**Okay, so we are officially 30 chapters in! I am definitely glad for that. You guys will flip over one of the characters I'm introducing in this thing.**

* * *

**The Evil of the Green Thumb!**

At St. Louis, all the citizens were out and about doing what they needed to do. Naturally, it was one of those days where everyone wished they had the day off because the sun was shining and the birds were singing. At the pool or at the river, everyone that had the day off was spending it having fun. In fact, there were even people in the park gathered together watching their kids play. It was definitely a good day to be out.

At a parking garage, though, Cammy and Kiryo were watching a rival match occur. Cammy was pinching the bridge of her nose while Kiryo watched the match with anticipation. The reason? Logan was about to get in a tussle with a rival of his. Sharel, Nate, and Todd arrived to check it out. "What's going on?" Todd asked.

"What's going on, Todd, is that Logan's about to get into a just-for-kicks match with a rival of his from New York," Cammy explained. "That's Alex, and he and Logan have a tendency to piss each other off." Standing at an impressive 6'6", the one Cammy addressed as 'Alex' had short, slicked-back blonde hair with a red headband on and fringes around his face, torn green overalls with the red and black straps on his bare shoulders, no T-shirt, a red button-up shirt tied around his waist, and a pair of black combat boots. His ensemble was complete with a matching pair of fingerless gloves and red marks under his eyes. "Although, I am interested in how this fight's going to turn out."

"You and me both, Cammy," Kiryo said before seeing a pink motorcycle drive up to the top. The rider removed her helmet to reveal the familiar purple hair of Kiryo's new friend/student. "What's up, Angel?"

"Nothing much," Angel said with a blush and a smile. The interaction didn't escape Sharel, though, who noted that the both of them shared a smile. "Was the training rescheduled? Or was I suppose to train with either Logan or his girlfriend?"

"No, we're still on. But Logan here's about to get in a bit of a scuffle."

"You ready to go, Hick-Boy?" Alex asked, getting a smirk from the Assassin.

"Bring it on, Greenhorn!" Logan exclaimed back. Alex rushed and jumped to kick his rival with both of his feet. However, Logan jumped up, grabbed Alex by the arm, and slammed him into the pavement. Alex got up and tried to hit Logan with a backhand chop attack, but the Assassin grabbed his wrist. "When are you going to learn that those 'Flash Chops' aren't going to work on me? You need a new book of tricks, Alex."

"Well, here's one you didn't expect." Alex took Logan by surprise by grabbing his shirt and tossing him backwards. He then jumped a short distance until he was in front of his opponent, grabbed him by the shoulder, and headbutted him hard, leaving Logan stunned. "How do you like that? That's my 'Head Crush' for you!" he exclaimed, seeing Logan recover from the attack.

"That would leave a concussion on a normal person, but not me," Logan said before reeling his arm back. "Sonic Boom!" The attack, as usual, hit Alex dead-on. He then followed that up by 'Flash Stepping' behind his rival and using a suplex on him. Since Alex wasn't as heavy as Zangief, it didn't take Logan as much effort as it would for him to pick up the 'Red Cyclone'. The others saw that Logan was clearly enjoying this fight, as evidenced by the grin on his face. This gave them the conclusion that his bouts with Alex, as with his 'dates' with Juri, made him a rival he enjoyed fighting.

The New Yorker got back up, grabbed Logan, and used a 'Power Bomb' on him, followed by a stomp on his head. As the Assassin recovered, he noted Alex's laughing and saw that Kiryo was about to step in. He shook his head, telling his descendant to stay back. Logan formed a fist and had his knuckles on the concrete. "Shoryuken!" he shouted, surprising the wrestler with the uppercut to his chin. After falling on his back, Alex shook his head and saw Logan hold his hand out in good sportsmanship. He gladly took it so Logan could help him back on his feet. "Are you alright?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex said. "But where'd you learn that one?"

"I learned it from Ken Masters during the S.I.N. Tournament. While I got the technique and the power down pat, Ryu helped me to improve it."

"So that's Logan's only move I haven't seen yet," Todd said, having not seen the move until now. "That tournament did a lot of good for him."

"You got that right, Todd," Cammy said.

* * *

Later, the group left the parking garage feeling that the fight was plenty of entertainment. "Oh man," Alex said, putting his button-up shirt on. "I never get that kind of fun sparring with my mentor."

"Glad I could help," said Logan.

"By the way, Logan," Nate said, getting their attention. "I had to deal with Bonkers the other day."

"Why didn't you call me? I would've been happy to get him out of your hair."

"Well, I didn't want to disturb yours and Cammy's 'alone time'. Plus, I'm getting sick and tired of relying on others to finish what I started. It's getting on my nerves."

"That's understandable, Nate."

"I don't mean to pry, but what did you two do?" Sharel asked, getting a glare from Cammy.

"Part of that is none of your business, Sharel," Cammy asked, letting the others know that they had no right knowing a portion of what their 'alone time' was about. "But Logan did take me to Memphis to see the house of a Rock-n-Roll legend."

"You went to Graceland?" Alex asked.

"Yep," Logan answered. "It was a lot of fun, too."

"What's Graceland?" Sharel asked.

"Is she serious?" Angel asked Kiryo.

"I'm afraid so," the Future Assassin answered. "Graceland was once the home of the King of Rock-n-Roll, Sharel. His name was Elvis Presley and he was a big hit back in the 50s and 60s. I suggest you start listening to him."

"I'll take you up on your offer if you listen with me," she said. The flirting tone didn't escape Angel's ears, nor did it the others. This made Kiryo blush red, Alex confused, Logan, Nate, and Todd shake their heads, and Cammy and Angel mad. "Um...that is...if Cammy will let me come over."

"Forget it, Sharel," Cammy said with a scowl on her face, making Sharel hang her head in sadness.

"You have some odd friends," Alex whispered to Logan.

"True, but they're pretty helpful. Cammy, Kiryo, and Angel are the exceptions in the 'odd' department." Alex looked at his rival funny. "Okay, so I don't know about Angel. All I know is that she's Kiryo's new protégé despite him trying to learn as well."

"Kind of an oddball process to me."

"Go back in your trailer..." Suddenly, they heard a scream. They looked and saw a group of motorcyclists riding past them, their leader holding onto a brunette woman in a nightdress and denim jacket. Logan looked to the others, getting a nod from the Silver Lanterns and Kiryo. Sharel made Kiryo's motorcycle appear out of nowhere so he could ride it. "Damn," Logan said. "I was hoping that would get Sharel out of Kiryo's hair."

"You and me both," Cammy said before turning to their newest friend. "Angel, right?" she asked, getting a nod from the girl. "I want you to watch this."

* * *

Back at the chase, the motorcyclists were having the time of their lives, but the woman was trying to get the leader to let her go. They heard the sound of one of their bikes falling over, so they looked back and saw Kiryo with his chain blade ready to fire again. Nate and Sharel took out some more motorcycles, getting them closer to the leader. Nate grabbed the girl with his ring while Kiryo put his motorcycle in autopilot. The Future Assassin jumped off and somersaulted onto the gang leader's bike. He grabbed him in a Full Nelson and performed an air suplex on him, knocking him out.

After the arrests were made for disturbing the peace, the woman was taking a bit of a breather. She saw Nate talking to the others. She surprised him with a hug. "Oh, thank you for saving me!" she exclaimed. "You're my hero!" This made Sharel giggle.

"I-It's no problem, Miss, but it's Kiryo here you should be thanking," said the original Silver Lantern. "He's the one who put a stop to that mess."

"Yes, but you were the one who got me out of that mess." She then thought of an idea. "Tell you what: I'm hosting a party in a few days. Why don't you join us? You can even bring your friends as well, including Mr. Super Ninja there."

"I'll…uh…consider it…"

"Great! I'll see you there," she said, stroking Nate's cheek. He turned around and saw Sharel's mischievous grin.

"What?"

"~Nathaniel has a girlfriend! Nathaniel has a girlfriend!~" she sang, getting the others' attention.

"I do not!"

"Lucky dog…" Kiryo said, a slight hint of jealousy in his voice. Alex, Todd, Logan, and Cammy all had the same suspicious look on their faces while Angel shown that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get Kiryo. Sharel was too busy teasing Nate to notice.

* * *

A while later, the woman got to her home. She was going through her mind over how she was going to make Nate hers while she was on her way to her room. When she opened her door, she saw that the light was still off, but her window was open. "Still at it with breaking up relationships, Rose?" said a voice belonging to a woman. "It's a good thing you targeted that Silver Lantern rather than Logan Washburn. He wouldn't be so easy."

"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" asked the woman identified as Rose.

"Now, Rose, surely you recognize your old friend Pam, don't you?" The strange woman stepped out of the shadows, revealed to have green skin, green eyes, red hair, and a slim, curvy body covered in vines. The sides of her 'clothes' were black while the rest were as green as she was. She also wore no shoes.

"Why are you here, Pam?"

"Because, my dear, it's time the Green got another representative." As Pam said this, a vine came out of nowhere and grabbed Rose, causing her to struggle. The struggle increased as Pam pulled out a needle. "Relax, Rose. This won't take long." Once she stuck the needle in Rose's arm, she began to scream in pain before falling unconscious. "When you wake, my dear, you will be just like me."

* * *

Back at the hideout (Which Angel, due to being part of Logan's team thanks to Kiryo, got to hang out at), Logan and Cammy couldn't shake the feeling that they needed to be wary of the woman from earlier. Since it was bugging Logan the most, he went to his computer and got ready to type in the description of the woman. However, Angel had a timesaver in mind. "Here, Logan," she said. "Try this."

"What is it?" he asked as Angel revealed a flash drive. He gave her the go-ahead to put it in the USB Drive. Up on the screen, a digitized figure wearing a blue suit and silver helmet came on the screen. It wore a mask to conceal its face.

"Hey, Firewall."

_"Greetings, Miss Westhelm,"_ said the figure.

"Wow. Did you design him yourself?" Logan asked.

"Yes, I did. Firewall started off as a project of mine in Computer Science. I don't make a lot of friends, so he was my only one until I made a trip to Osaka a couple of years ago. There, I met a couple more new friends named Sakura Kasugano and Karin Kanzuki."

"You never told us you knew Sakura."

"You know her?"

"I'll tell you later, but right now, we need to get back to the objective." Logan then turned to the monitor. "Firewall, is it?" The little sprite nodded. "Can you look something up for us?"

_"What do you wish to know, sir?" _Firewall asked.

"We need help finding the info on someone we encountered today."

_"I would be happy to help, but the description must be typed in."_ As he said this, Angel typed the woman's description into the database. _"Data found. Rose Nixon. Age: Unknown. Specialties: Seduction."_

"That's all we needed to know," Logan said, turning to Kiryo. Firewall nodded and went back to sleep. Angel removed the Flash Drive from the USB port as Logan walked up to his descendant. "Kiryo, you're going to have to be careful about who takes your heart."

"Oh, you picked up on that, huh?" Kiryo asked.

"Yeah. Trust me, it was as obvious as Birdie's mohawk. I'm only telling you this because I need to prepare you for a broken heart. It'll come eventually."

* * *

Back with Nate and Sharel, the latter got a little curious about Alex. Nate, as reluctant as he was due to the New Yorker's size, agreed to help her find out more about him. They eventually found a truck with a camper trailer on it in a different parking garage, so they walked up to it. While Nate looked around for Alex, Sharel peeked inside the trailer. Nate started to get worried about the possibility of the hulking fighter coming back. "Sharel, I would hurry up if I were you," he said.

"No way," she responded. "One way you can find out about someone is to find out the condition of their possessions." She had a good look at the inside of the trailer. "Wow. This guy surprisingly takes good care of his trailer. I don't see a mess anywhere."

"You couldn't pick that up from when you read Logan's mind?"

"No, because he's never been in my trailer," Alex said, approaching the Silver Lanterns. "What are you two doing here?"

"Sorry, Alex," said Nate. "Sharel here got curious about you." The largest of the three approached Sharel, who gave him a nervous grin.

"If you wanted to know, all you had to do was ask. Come on in." He opened up the door to his trailer so they could enter. "Yeah, I just got the thing fixed up before driving here. Make yourselves at home."

"Thank you," Sharel said politely. She saw a picture of Alex with two other people. One was a black-haired man with a goatee while the other one was a young blonde girl in a light blue trench coat. Alex was in the picture wearing a white V-neck shirt with a gold anvil on it that left his lower abs and arms exposed, a pair of green workout pants, and he didn't have the eye paint. "So, who are these guys in the picture?"

"That's Tom and his daughter Patricia. My parents died when I was just 8, a little older than Logan was when he lost his dad. Tom raised me since then and he and Patricia basically became my new family."

"It sounds to me like, out of all of us, you and Bruce Wayne could relate to Logan the most," Nate said.

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Alex. "However, even common ground adds to the competition in our case. Care for an energy drink?"

"Sure. What kind do you have?"

"Monster, Red Bull, and Kickstart. Take your pick."

"I'll have a Monster," said Sharel.

"I'll take a Kickstart," Nate said. Alex got the drinks out and handed them to his guests.

"So, do you and Logan just fight for fun?"

"Most of the time. Other times, it's because we get on each other's nerves," Alex answered.

"Also, why do you wear that eye paint?"

"Sharel!" Nate scolded with his teeth gritted.

"Nah, it's alright. I already told Logan and one of our fights helped me to get my mind off of it. Underneath the eye paint on the left side of my face is a scar. I got kidnapped by this weirdo's henchmen and brought to his base. He mentioned the name of his organization and labeled me as a test body. I fought emulations of Dan Hibiki, Edmond Honda, Hakan, Birdie, Chun-Li, and even Ryu. But it was the Ryu emulation that gave me this scar. After I dealt with it, the weirdo knocked me out with this weird gas and I wound up back in my trailer. I'm still confused now."

"So you wear the eye paint on both sides so they would match, right?" Sharel asked.

"That's correct. Hey, it's getting late. If you want, I'll set you up a place to sleep."

"Thanks for the offer, Alex, but we have to get going," said Nate.

"Suit yourself. See ya, guys."

"Later." After they left, the Silver Lanterns took to the skies, leaving Alex alone to sleep. "Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Nate said.

"No it wasn't," said Sharel. "I guess Alex is a reliable ally if he can match up against Logan. And with no gadgets or powers to boot."

"True. We better get some sleep, Sharel. I'd like to find out what that woman's party is going to be like and I would rather be wide awake when I find out." Sharel nodded as they flew to the safehouse they were staying at.

* * *

A few days later, the crew arrived at Rose's mansion. The invitation said to dress casual, so the Silver Lanterns dressed up in their usual apparel, Cammy in a military cargo jacket, white shirt, yellow tie, and her usual boots, gauntlets, and beret. Logan had on a long-sleeve grey shirt as well as his boots, blue jeans, and gauntlets. Todd had on a black vest over a red long-sleeve shirt, black pants, and a tan trench coat. Angel had on a white formal dress that exposed her shoulders due to the spaghetti straps. Luckily, it was modest enough to not show that much cleavage. Alex simply wore his usual gear, but had on a white shirt underneath his button-up shirt. As for Kiryo, he had on his usual clothes, but with the addition of a pilot's jacket.

They had a good look at the mansion and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Welcome to Nixon Manor," said a butler. Nate handed him the invitations and he let them in. "Miss Nixon is expecting you."

"Thank you," said Nate. They went inside and saw that the interior looked much better. Logan, Cammy, and Alex all looked around, prepared for surprises. Kiryo was also looking, but it was mainly for Rose. He let out a gasp that caught the others' attention. They looked to see their hostess descending down a set of stairs, but she was green with dark green hair, green eyes, and green lips. Her body was covered in vines and she was barefoot. "Uh, Miss Nixon, when you said 'dress casual', we didn't think that this was what you meant."

"Do you like it?" she asked, giving a flirting smile. She saw that both Nate and Kiryo (especially the latter) were speechless, Sharel was curious about the 'fashion statement', and Angel, Cammy, Todd, Logan, and Alex were suspicious. "A friend of mine told me to try a more..._natural_ look."

"What's with the green skin, though?" Alex asked Logan. "I thought she was a lighter color and her hair was brown."

"You're not kidding there," the Assassin said back. He looked at one of Cammy's pockets and saw it rustling. He escorted his girlfriend to the side to have a chat with her. "You brought little Tigress with you, didn't you?" Cammy nervously chuckled at the assumption, which showed that he was correct.

"I've been training her for minor covert ops missions," she said as she pulled the kitten out of her pocket. "This includes something like this. Maybe she can help us dig up some dirt on Miss Nixon over there. It'll break Kiryo's heart, but not as much as she would herself. I even equipped Tigress with a minicam on her collar. That way, we'll see what she sees."

Logan looked around and saw that Rose was still talking to Nate and the others while Alex was looking around. "Argh. I hate to do this, but we might as well. Just stay close to her, okay?" Cammy nodded and went out the window with Tigress while Logan made sure no one was looking. _'Be careful out there, Cammy,'_ he thought as he returned to the others.

"Where did you wander off to?" Nate asked.

"I saw some faces that looked familiar to me, so I thought I'd introduce them to Cammy," Logan lied, keeping up the charade. "She's having the time of her life getting to know them."

"More lady friends of yours?" asked Sharel.

"How'd you guess?" Todd didn't pay much mind to the conversations, as he saw a familiar face that he wasn't expecting. "Something up, Todd?" Logan asked.

"Over there," he said to his friend. Logan looked and saw who Todd was looking at. "That's Patience Phillips, the Catwoman we encountered in Coast City."

"You mean the one you and Shazam had to rescue from that Bio-Android you fought?"

"That's her." Patience walked outside the door after telling the people she was in need of some fresh air. "I might as well go say 'hi'." Todd then walked out the door to follow her as well.

"Something on your mind, Logan?" Sharel asked.

"That Catwoman you met," said the Assassin. "You do realize this means that there are two of them, right, Sharel?"

"Who's Catwoman?"

"The one that's here is Patience Phillips. Sound familiar?" That's when Sharel got a look of realization on her face. "I thought so. This Catwoman's an artist. The original is still active as a jewel thief. Her name is Selina Kyle."

"Do they know about each other?"

"Not as far as I know," Logan answered. He looked and saw that the music had started and that Nate came up to Sharel to dance. She gladly accepted, to Rose's ire. The host decided that, to both Sharel and Angel's dismay, she'd dance with Kiryo. _'Damn. It looks like Cammy picked a bad time to guide Tigress on her first covert ops mission.' _He then noticed a green-skinned redhead covered in leaves. _'I guess the whole 'natural look' thing is catching on quick,'_ he thought as the redhead approached him. "Poison Ivy, I presume?"

"You presume correctly, handsome," Ivy said. "Don't worry. I'm here to make sure Rose over there stays out of trouble."

"In that case, care to dance?" She saw the smirk on his face as he offered his hand. Deciding to mirror it, Ivy took it anyways. As they were dancing, Rose was surprised to learn that Kiryo had never done this before since he was doing well. Alex wound up with Angel, but he didn't do so well. "So, how's Harley?"

"She told you about me, did she?" Ivy asked with a sly smile. "Harley's doing well. She talks nonstop about you, you know. I'm starting to admire you."

"I'm blushing." Ivy giggled at the sarcastic tone used by her dance partner.

* * *

On the rooftops, Patience, in her guise as Catwoman, was preparing to enter into the attic of the home to see if she could find anything out about their host from what's in there. She heard a thump on the roof, which startled her until she saw that it was Cloak. "You're getting sloppy already, Platinum," she said. "When you spy on someone, you're not supposed to let them know you're following them."

"And who said I was trying to hide?" he asked, getting a grin from the artist. "What are you doing here, Patience?"

"Aw, you really want to know, don't you?" Though she couldn't see it due to his mask, Cloak was glaring at her. "Come over here then," she said before getting serious. Cloak did as he was told. "I know you saw something wrong with our hostess. I don't know anyone with a green skin coloration, so I figured that something must be up. If we look in the attic, we may find something that'll give us a clue as to who she is."

"I saw her a few days ago when I was with Logan and the others. That was when we met Logan's rival Alex and Kiryo's friend Angel. Rose looked perfectly normal that day, if not a bit traumatized." This got Catwoman to think about the ordeal.

"So you're saying that something must've happened to her?"

"That's exactly right, and I believe it may have something to do with Logan's current dance partner. He knew her identity as Poison Ivy pretty well."

* * *

At the ground level, Cammy was scaling the lattice fence with Tigress in her pocket. She came across a window that had a light on, so she slightly opened it and put Tigress on the ledge. The kitten knew that it was her cue. Cammy looked and saw that the coast was clear, so she jumped in afterwards. While looking around, she also looked on her phone to see what Tigress was looking at. She noticed an object in front of her kitten that caught her interest. "Agent Paws, stop," she said, using the codename she designated for the feline spy-in-training and getting her to stop. "Now, push that object out from its hiding spot."

She heard some pushing and saw that Tigress was under the bed. The kitten, with all her might, pushed a book out from under the bed. There was a lock on it, so she figured it to be Rose's diary. As Tigress jumped onto Cammy's shoulder, the Brit didn't even see a key anywhere. She decided to use a bobby pin to unlock it. She looked at the latest entries in the diary to find out more about her. "It's obvious that she enjoys breaking up relationships just for pure fun," Cammy said to her kitten. She had a look at the day they met her and saw that she mentioned Nate, noticing an obsession with him. She also skipped a day and wrote in the next entry that she received a visit from Pamela Isley before being injected with a weird syringe.

After reading a few more entries about Nate, she concluded that she developed a form of crush on him that he didn't want. She also figured that the syringe in question was responsible for her skin coloration. She decided to call Logan and report what she found.

* * *

As Logan was dancing with Ivy, she found the Assassin to be a bit more interesting. Logan also found Ivy intriguing as well. The two of them looked at the direction of the others and saw that Alex and Angel were sitting down, the latter obviously disappointed with Alex's dancing. Logan knew the New Yorker couldn't help it, given his massive size. To Kiryo and Nate's disappointments, Rose and Sharel decided to swap dance partners. While he wasn't that disappointed with Sharel for finally dancing with Kiryo (given that he'd rather have her as a daughter-in-law than Rose), he hated that Rose was breaking his descendant's heart.

He was pulled from this train of thought by his phone ringing. Ivy knew it was important, so she let Logan take his call at a good distance from the others. "What's up, Cammy?" he asked.

_"Tigress and I found a little more on how Rose works. We also found out about the skin coloration,"_ said Cammy. _"It turns out that she specializes in breaking up relationships, something even Vega would find to be ugly."_

"I still plan on giving him a can of whoop-ass the next time I see him."

_"I figured as much, especially given the rivalry between you two. Anyways, according to her diary, she gained an immense crush on Nate after he, Sharel, and Kiryo rescued her from that motorcycle gang. That was the same night she turned green. It was due to a syringe injected into her by her friend Pam Isley."_

"Poison Ivy."

_"Who?"_

"It's a nickname Isley gave herself. In fact, she's here now. Ivy's abilities, from what I heard from the Martian Manhunter, are associated with this force called 'The Green', which represents Nature's life. She has the ability to control plants and is not too crazy about technology. I wonder if..."

_"If what, Logan?"_ Cammy asked.

"I wonder if Rose may have the same abilities," he said.

_"It's possible."_ Suddenly, Logan saw that Nate was struggling to break free of Rose's grip. _"What was that?"_

"It looks like Nate doesn't share Rose's sentiments," said the Assassin. "I'll get back with you in a bit, sweetie." Logan hung up and went to see what was going on.

"Oh, now come on, Nathaniel," Rose said. "I'd rather have you than that loser over there." This shocked Kiryo and hurt him right in the heart. It also served to make Sharel and Angel mad.

"Look, I said no and I mean no!" Nate exclaimed. "Especially after what you just said about Kiryo. He's not my best friend, but I can guarantee you that there is still someone here who wouldn't like what you called him."

"And who is that?"

"Me and these two ladies right here," Logan said with his 'Ichigo scowl' on his face. "Let's get out of here, guys. The last thing we need to deal with is a heartbreaker." As they were about to leave, with Sharel and Angel trying their best to comfort Kiryo, Rose was on the verge of going mad.

"No, he said…Rather be dancing with that blonde…" Ivy was cautious, having seen the signs with Harley Quinn as well. "Well, you know what, Nathaniel? You…will…be…mine!" As soon as she said that, a giant tree came out of the ground and wrecked the mansion, knocking out Poison Ivy and bringing Patience, Cloak, Cammy, and Tigress to ground level in the process. "My plants tell me that you think I'm obsessed!" she exclaimed with a maniacal look in her face. "I'll show you obsessed!"

"She's gone crazy!" exclaimed Alex before dodging a vine.

"Correction: Arkham crazy!" Logan shouted. As everyone ran away, Rose had several giant bulbs grow from the floor. They opened up and revealed a plant man in each one. The fighters charged after them, with Alex kicking things off with a 'Slash Elbow'. Sharel took out a few with a weed eater while Nate used a machete construct. As Kiryo was still shook up, he didn't move at all. Angel, worried about her friend, defended him, showing her own prowess as a fighter. Cammy and Tigress worked in tandem, in spite of the kitten's size. The tiny spy clawed several plant men while Cammy finished them with a 'Spiral Arrow', 'Cannon Spike', or 'Cannon Strike'.

Cloak also worked in sync with Catwoman, both of them taking out several of Rose's henchmen. Rose saw that Kiryo was still vulnerable, so she captured him with some vines, along with Angel and Cammy. She tried with Sharel, but she escaped. As Tigress went to rescue the hostages, Logan and Alex charged for Rose herself. However, she had another bulb ready. Expecting another plant man, the two rivals kept on charging. The bulb opened up and sprayed knockout gas, causing Logan, Alex, Cloak, and Catwoman to pass out. Nate protected himself with a shield as he watched his comrades fall out of commission. This was what Rose was counting on, though, as she grabbed him with a vine.

As he struggled against the vine's grip, he heard Rose laughing. He looked and saw her being lifted up towards him. "Struggle all you want, Nathaniel," she said with a sadistic smile. "You're not getting out of there." As the Silver Lantern struggled, he knew that he couldn't use a chainsaw construct due to his arms being bound as well. Rose used the opportunity to kiss him, which resulted in him being instantly paralyzed. "There, now that's better." She then took Nate into the hollow of the tree, leaving the still-awake Cammy, Angel, and Kiryo to observe their teammates that were knocked out.

"Damn," Kiryo said. "How could I be so stupid? I should've listened to Logan in the first place." Both of his fellow captors noticed that he was heartbroken over the ordeal.

"Kiryo, Logan told you to be careful with situations like this for a reason," said Cammy. "Women like Rose have a tendency to break up relationships just for pure fun. It's unfathomable how it's not considered a crime. But you are our descendant, so you'll be able to bounce back from this."

"Kiryo, you're from the future?" Angel asked, getting a nod from her friend. "It's no wonder you look like Cammy and Logan. But Cammy's right. You'll be okay. I believe you will and so do your ancestors. Right now, though, with Logan and Cloak knocked out and Nate taken hostage, I'm afraid you're the only one who can fight Rose. Sharel could, except she ran off."

"No, she didn't," he said, his determination starting to come back. "Sharel, we're going to need your help here!" As he said that, the second Silver Lantern appeared dressed up in a gardening outfit.

"I never thought I would be so glad to see you back," Cammy said. "Nice outfit."

"Thanks. I have a bit of a green thumb myself," Sharel said before working on getting the captives free. She freed Kiryo first so he could go after Rose. She also freed Angel and noticed Tigress attempt to chew Cammy's binds. While she thought it was cute, she freed Cammy as well.

* * *

In the grotto, Rose still had Nate paralyzed and in a vine. He knew that this was a form of torment and that she was enjoying it. "You know, Nathaniel, I actually never imagined myself with a green thumb until I met you. Isn't Mother Nature's work beautiful?"

"I wish I could say the same for you now," she heard a voice say. They looked and saw a very angry Kiryo with his swords drawn.

"Aw, Kiryo, you've managed to break free. Not bad for a lovesick loser." She tried to grab him with some vines, but he spun around and used a version of 'Chidori Blade' to cut them. "Not bad. Would you like to continue our dance?"

"Actually, I have a different kind of dance in mind." She smiled at her opponent before summoning a thorn whip, knowing that she could hurt the Future Assassin with it. She lunged it at him, but he dodged it and charged for her. As he jumped to attack her, a vine grabbed him by the leg. He cut it and freed himself to attack her. He lunged at her with his swords, but she wrapped him up with her whip, hurting him in the process. "Big mistake. I'm a human electric conductor, remember?"

The statement shocked her, but not as much as Kiryo himself. He sheathed his swords, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her to the ground, knocking her out. He then grabbed his swords, jumped up, and freed Nate from his vines. "Thanks a lot," said the Silver Lantern. "But how did you get free?"

"Sharel," Kiryo answered. They saw that the vines were lifting Rose up, so they looked and saw Poison Ivy in control. "Ivy."

"You deserve a break after what you've been through, kid," she said. "Give both of your ancestors my regards. Tell them I wish them a happy life."

"You heard all that, huh?" She smiled and left with her unstable friend.

"So that's Poison Ivy?"

* * *

Back in what used to be the lobby, Patience, Cloak, Alex, and Logan were waking up. Logan and Cloak each found a cat on their chest, but in Logan's case, it was Tigress. For Cloak, it was Patience. The others got a laugh out of it, but Cloak was not amused. She smirked and got off of him so he could stand up. "Man, we ran into that one," Alex said.

"You're not kidding there," added Logan. They looked at the hollow I'm the tree and saw Kiryo helping Nate out of there. Kiryo had blood coming out of where the thorns stuck into him. "Are you okay, guys?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Kiryo said. "Unfortunately, that was the first time I had to lay my hands on a woman. I hope I never have to do that again."

"I'm sure you won't have to. But the next time I warn you about something like that, try to listen." The descendant smiled and went home to lie down. They figured that to be a good idea after what they've been through. Sharel, as much as she wanted to protest against Angel going with Logan's group, knew she had to get Nate back to Coast City. Alex went back to his trailer while Patience and Cloak went their separate ways. They were in for a much-needed rest.

CHAPTER 30 END

* * *

**Phew! That was a long one! So that marked the first time I used Poison Ivy from Batman comics and Alex from **_**Street Fighter III**_** (however, in case you haven't figured out, he's in his **_**Street Fighter V**_** design). The next chapter will introduce an OC who functions as an alternate descendant of Logan's. Since I have to bring in more **_**Bleach **_**characters, this one will also have Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji as well. 'Till next time!**


	31. Jakar

**Now it's time to introduce an alternate descendant of Logan's who doesn't have Cammy as an ancestor like Kiryo does. As I said, Renji Abarai will be making an appearance for the first time in this fic during this chapter. Ichigo and Rukia will also appear while the only DC hero I'll use is Kyle Rayner, giving him a proper introduction. The **_**Street Fighter **_**characters will be Cammy, Chun-Li, Guile, and Ken, the latter three who will meet Nate, Sharel, and Angel for the first time. Like Alex, Cammy, and Ken, I'll also have Guile in his **_**Street Fighter V**_** design.**

* * *

**Jakar**

In St. Louis, the clouds were about as grey as Solomon Grundy's decayed skin. The rain was starting to pour, meaning that people were inside and the ball game was delayed. Naturally, no one was happy about that, but no one could do anything about it. The crew was at the Intense Training Facility, but without Logan. They were missing him because it was Kiryo's first day there and they felt he needed to be there. It turns out that Nate and Sharel were there as well, the latter giving Kiryo a massage. He couldn't wait to get started. They were getting a visit from Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji, all of whom are meeting Kiryo for the first time.

Chun-Li, Guile, and Ken were there as well. Guile was wearing a white button-up shirt with dark blue emblems on his chest and shoulders, a dark blue tie, dark blue pants, black belt, and black combat shoes. He had his sleeves rolled up, showing off his American flag tattoos. The soldier noticed that Rukia was looking down the hall. Seeing the worried look on her face, Guile knew that she was worried about their Assassin friend. They all knew that, even in the rain, he could take care of himself. The Air Force Major turned his attention back to the main center to see that Kiryo was doing one-handed push-ups. "He looks like he's ready to go," he said.

"Well, when a speed demon like Logan is making everyone wait, you tend to get impatient," Ichigo said. Ken decided to hop in the center ring with Kiryo. "Okay, what's he up to?"

"Well, with Ken Masters, you never know. That spoiled brat is unpredictable."

"I heard that, Guile!" Ken exclaimed, shooting his brother-in-law a glare before turning to Kiryo. "I know we're waiting for Logan, but how about a friendly spar, kid? It'll keep you on your toes."

"Sure. Who am I to object?" Kiryo asked before the two got into their fighting stances. Angel and Sharel saw that the descendant managed to get over his heartbreak with Rose, but feared that it would return when she did. The one thing that got Kiryo to overthink this fight was Ken's stance, mainly because, unlike Logan and Guy, Ken kept moving around. Ken started off with a 'Hadoken', but Kiryo burst through it using a 'Flash Step', shocking the pure-blood Soul Reapers and getting Ichigo interested in this fight. Kiryo reeled back his right arm at the same time Ken did and the two of them clashed. Ichigo already saw an error that Ken took advantage of: Kiryo's feet weren't on the ground, so Ken had more leverage, sending the Future Assassin back.

Kiryo shook his head to recover while Guile shook his head at the kid's blunder. He saw Ken give the 'come and get me' sign. Before he could attack, though, Ichigo decided to speak up. "Kiryo!" he exclaimed, getting his attention. "Unless you plan on using a 'Skydive Assault', I suggest you keep your feet on the ground! That way, Ken won't repeat the same thing he did just now!"

"Got it, Ichigo!" Kiryo said before starting again.

"Wow, Ichigo," Rukia said. "You sound like you know what you were talking about."

"Well, between the 'bonding time' I have with my dad and sparring with Tatsuki, I picked up a few things. Of course, training with Yoruichi and Kisuke didn't hurt either." In the meantime, Nate couldn't help but notice the people he hasn't met before.

"Sharel, who are those people?" he asked his teammate.

"The soldier with the flattop is Guile. He's in the Air Force," she said before mentioning the others. "The girl in the qipao is Chun-Li, Logan's friend-with-benefits and a second 'aunt' to Kiryo. The guy with the red hair shaped like a pineapple is Renji Abarai, a Soul Reaper and the Lieutenant of Squad 6. The petite girl is Rukia Kuchiki, the Lieutenant of Squad 13 and Renji's childhood friend. As for the guy with orange hair, that's the Substitute Soul Reaper and Rukia's boyfriend Ichigo Kurosaki."

"The 'Getsuga Tensho' guy? That's him?"

"Yep, and that scowl alone has earned him a reputation in his home of Karakura Town. Ichigo's the kind of guy who doesn't take crap from anyone, but will still have your back...that is, unless you mess with his sisters or his friends."

"I see..." In the center ring, Kiryo was getting better, but he was still getting knocked down by Ken. Naturally, he wasn't exactly enjoying that. At least he took Ichigo's advice into account. As Ken called for a break, feeling that the descendant had no need to wear himself down, Cammy came into the room with a serving tray of milkshakes. Reluctantly, she gave one to Nate and Sharel as well. Renji and Angel had their first health shakes while Rukia's had one before when she's hung out with Ichigo.

* * *

In the city itself, though, it was starting to rain. This forced everyone to get inside of some buildings. On top of one building were two figures. One was the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, who happened to be passing through. The other was an extremely ticked off Logan. Kyle has seen him mad before and it was never a good thing, meaning that one should do their best to stay on his good side. "Dammit! I hate when this happens," he said.

"I know that," said Kyle. "I also know how much you hate dealing with shape-shifters. Don't worry, though. I'm sure the rain will flush him out." It turns out that God was definitely helping them out. They saw one individual that had rain creating mud holes in his skin and clothes, getting Logan to smirk. And since his 'Spirit Sense' kicked in, he knew which shape-shifter this was. He jumped down while Kyle floated, getting the target's attention. "Hold it!" the Green Lantern exclaimed as the shape-shifter tried to run. Kyle trapped him in a dome construct, preventing his escape.

"You're not getting away this time, Karlo," Logan said. The shape-shifter transformed into what the Assassin knew to be his true form: an ugly-looking, middle-aged man with shaggy brown hair and buck teeth, a plain yellow T-shirt, red button-up shirt, khaki pants, and brown loafers. He then transformed into a monster made of a mud-like substance with short legs, bulky arms, and red eyes. This transformation made him large enough to break the dome Kyle trapped him in. The monster formed his fists into hammers and attacked the two heroes.

"So, Logan," Karlo said, talking in the monstrous voice that came with the form. "How did you know it was me?"

"My 'Spirit Sense', the rain, and your severe lack of acting classes!" The statement angered Karlo, who kept attacking the two others present.

"Good way to hack him off!" Kyle exclaimed as another hammer slammed the ground. "I'll distract Clayface! You get ready to put him on ice!" Logan nodded as he grabbed three Ice Knives in each hand. Kyle kicked things off by sending a bus construct onto Karlo. It smashed him, but Clayface reformed and attacked the Green Lantern by turning his hand into a net. This was where Logan saw his chance. He rushed towards Karlo and stuck the three knives in his left hand into his chest, went around and stuck the three in his right hand into his back, shot two more knives at Clayface's wrists, and finally stuck two more into his neck.

Logan then jumped off and watched as the Ice Knives took effect. When all was said and done, Clayface was frozen solid. After taking a picture of his handy work, the Assassin called the Watchtower. "Logan to Justice League," he said. "We apprehended Clayface and are requesting immediate transport to Arkham Asylum."

"_Request accepted,"_ said the Martian Manhunter. _"Well done, Logan. Supergirl sends her regards."_

"Well, send my regards back, okay? Logan out." After hanging up and seeing Clayface Zeta-Beamed back to Arkham, he saw Kyle smirking. "Not one word out of you."

"Sorry. Trying to hold in a laugh," said the Lantern. He saw his friend start to run for the Intense Training Facility. "Hey, why are you heading over there? There's a number of bars we could go to to celebrate Clayface's arrest."

"That sounds fun, but Clayface made me late for Kiryo's first day in the ITF." Kyle, having been told by Logan of Kiryo's origins, knew that the Future Assassin was his friend's descendant, so he decided to go along as well. The Assassin dialed Cammy's cell phone to reach her.

"_Logan, where are you?"_ she asked, a mix of both anger and worry in her tone. _"It's passed time for the training to start!"_

"Cammy honey, I know that and I'm sorry. But Clayface was here and Kyle and I couldn't pass up taking him down."

"_I swear, times like this, I wish Grayson still had his Nightwing identity. You need to get down here ASAP! Kiryo's already had a few sparring sessions with Ken!"_

"We'll get there as fast as we can. I promise." With that, Logan and Cammy hung up. The Assassin nodded towards the Green Lantern and got on his motorcycle. Kyle formed a motorcycle construct and got on it as well. "Now I wonder why Hal didn't think of that."

"Hal likes to stick to the air," said the Lantern. "As for me, I like to be grounded once in a while." Logan smirked as they headed back to the Intense Training Facility to meet up with Cammy and the others.

* * *

Back at the Facility, it was Guile's turn to take on Ken. Since the martial artist knew his brother-in-law to have a solid defense, he had to wait until Guile left an opening. This was in spite of Ken's spontaneous fighting style, which surprised both the Silver Lanterns and the Soul Reapers. Kiryo was also in awe of Ken's abilities and wondered about Guile's. The soldier reeled his arms back as Ken attacked him with a 'Tatsumaki Senpukyaku' but he slashed them vertically as opposed to his usual horizontal motion. Ken kicked right into that one, which was followed up by a 'Somersault Kick'. "I still find it amazing how you're the American Champ, Ken, especially since you recklessly ran into that one," Guile said, cracking his knuckles.

"That smarts," said Ken. "What was that?"

"That's a new little power booster of mine that I'm glad you got to test out. It's called 'Sonic Blade', and I've been using it for a power booster for my 'Sonic Boom'. Now I know it makes a good stationary projectile as well." Ken noticed the smirk on Guile's face and stood back up. He was determined to get past that solid defense one way or another.

The American Champ amped up his Ki and used another 'Tatsumaki' in an attempt to hit Guile. Since Ken was expecting him to use his 'Sonic Blade' again, Guile caught him off guard with another 'Somersault Kick'. Ken landed on his feet and brought his hands back. "Hadoken!" he shouted, firing the blast at the soldier. Guile responded by jumping in the air, which was exactly what Ken wanted him to do. He tried to punch him in mid-air, but he was reminded the hard way that Guile, like Chun-Li and Cammy, specializes in air grabs. Guile grabbed him, surged down on the ground, slammed Ken on his shoulder, and tossed him back.

Ken slammed his fist on the metal floor, frustrated and excited at the same since Guile's proven to be a tough challenge. "You're still being reckless, Masters. At least Ryu's proving to be a better challenge." Hearing the name of his old friend &amp; sparring partner slowly elicited a chuckle out of Ken before it turned into a full-blown laugh. "What's so funny?" Guile asked.

"Nothing much, but hearing Ryu's name in a sentence like that just added to my motivation." With that, Ken surprised Guile by jump-kicking him on the chest with a fiery foot before scooting back. He then did a multi-hitting 'Tatsumaki', which also had Guile in the air, before finishing with a hard kick to his face. "That's a new one that I was saving up just for him. I call it the 'Guren Enjinkyaku'." Now it was Guile's turn to be frustrated, mainly with Ken's cocky attitude.

As the others were watching the fight, Cammy looked on her phone and, through the security camera that she had it connected to through Wi-Fi, saw a stranger at the door. She went to the door to see what the stranger wanted. She opened it and saw the stranger soaked in rain, but he was wearing a raincoat. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked. The stranger said nothing, but held out a hand with fire emitting from it. Cammy braced for the impact as the stranger blasted her with it.

Ichigo and Rukia sensed something heading towards them, so they looked and saw Cammy being sent flying to the rails. She hit them, feeling the impact and getting the attention of the others. They saw the figure approaching from the shadows of the hallway. Rukia materialized her Zanpakuto to get ready to fight him. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" she exclaimed, covering herself in a frosty aura (giving Nate the chills) before it cleared, revealing her Soul Reaper format and Shirayuki's Shikai state, which happened to look like a pure white version of its sealed state. "My friends aren't yours to push around, stranger! State your name!"

"Or what?" he asked.

"I'll put you on ice!" It was obvious that the stranger hasn't interacted with a Soul Reaper before, much less one at Rukia's caliber. Ichigo and Renji, on the other hand, knew that she was serious. "Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!" she shouted, surging a freezing blast to the stranger. They saw that he was frozen solid. "I tried to warn him." She said, shooting Ichigo a smile.

"It's not over yet," Guile said, drawing their attention to the unwanted guest. Using his fire, he melted through the ice, shocking the others.

"Now that was cold, Soul Reaper," he said. "Surprised? I should think that a Soul Reaper Lieutenant would remember the abilities of their foes."

"So he does know what a Soul Reaper is?" Chun-Li asked, getting a nod from Renji.

"Officer, get Cammy to a safe spot," Sharel said. Chun-Li did as she was asked, picking Cammy up and running in the opposite direction. Suddenly, a trident appeared in front of them as Cammy regained consciousness. As she regained her bearings, fire emitted from the trident and formed a wall. At the battle, though, Sharel formed a boxing glove construct and launched it at the stranger. He blocked it, but didn't see her vanish. She reappeared behind him and kicked the back of his head. "It's good to know you're not invincible." _'If this doesn't get Cammy and Logan's approval, I don't know what will,'_ she thought.

Sharel's victorious feeling was short-lived, however, as the stranger surprised her with a kick in her stomach. He tossed her towards Angel, knocking her down as well. He saw Nate attempting an attack, so he vanished with a flash of fire. As Nate looked around for him, the stranger appeared behind him and knocked him out with a palm strike to the back of his head. Renji materialized his Zanpakuto and attempted to activate his Shikai like Rukia did hers. However, the figure got to the Squad 6 Lieutenant before he could and knocked him out. Rukia tried another 'Hakuren', but was punched in the stomach and knocked out as well.

This enraged Ichigo big time. He grabbed the stranger by the collar, punched his face, slammed him on the rails, and kicked him through it, all before Ken, Kiryo, and Guile all got a shot. He then materialized his Zanpakuto and did his routine. "Pierce the Sky and Protect, Zangetsu!" he exclaimed. A bright blue aura surrounded him at the command. Afterwards, the light cleared, revealing Ichigo in his Soul Reaper form with two blades: the short Khyber blade in his left representing his Quincy side, and the larger blade in his right hand representing his Soul Reaper/Hollow powers.

"So you're the legendary Ichigo Kurosaki?" the stranger asked. "From the tales I've heard, I figured you'd be older."

"Sorry to disappoint." With that, Ichigo attacked his opponent with unrelenting fury. However, that same fury caused his Spiritual Pressure to thicken the air around him and cause the others to suffocate. "You're going to pay for hurting Rukia!" he growled.

"If anyone's hurting your little girlfriend, it's you, Kurosaki!" After the stranger said that, he saw that Ichigo was distracted. He kicked the Substitute Soul Reaper hard in the chest, knocking Ken and Guile down as well. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" he began before seeing Kiryo with his swords drawn. "Oh? Would you like to challenge me, kid?"

"Don't you dare harm her…" said the Future Assassin. Kiryo had a glare right now that would at least put Robin's to shame. All the stranger did was give off a rare smirk and chuckled. This ticked Kiryo off, so he surged towards him as he used a type of telekinesis to block with two more tridents. As the descendant tried to slash through the tridents, the stranger decided that it was enough toying around. He grabbed his opponent and surged fire from his hand onto Kiryo's body, causing him to cry out in pain and making Chun-Li and Cammy both afraid and angry at the same time.

"Nice try, junior," said the figure. "How about you go sit in the corner? I have a job to do." He then locked Cammy in his sights and saw how pissed off she was. He figured that there was some kind of connection between her and Kiryo, but he brushed it off. He sent one of his tridents towards Cammy to kill her. However, before it could reach her, a flash of lightning appeared and stepped on the trident. When it cleared, they saw Logan standing on the staff part of the weapon. Kyle flew in and used his ring to grab the one stuck in the ground, causing the fire to dissipate. "No way…"

"Logan, you arrived!" Cammy exclaimed, hugging her boyfriend with tears in her eyes. Logan assessed the situation before turning to the girls.

"Don't worry, Cammy. You're safe now," he said before turning to Chun-Li. "What happened so far?"

"That stranger tried to kill Cammy. We couldn't get a reason out of him, or even a name. Rukia got the first hit in, then it was Sharel. After that, he knocked them out, as well as Nate and Renji, before Ichigo dealt out hits of his own. After that, Kiryo got fried and Cammy almost got skewered. Guile and Ken were knocked out as well." Logan looked at Kiryo and got angry at the stranger. He looked at his opponent, who had a surprised look on his face.

"A...Ancestor..." he said, getting a shocked look from the only four conscious ones. This only deepened Logan's glare as the stranger took his raincoat off, revealing a man in his mid-20s. He had long dark hair, brown eyes, a moustache/goatee combo, and a formal uniform consisting of forest-green cargo pants, a cargo jacket of the same color with emblems on it, brown gloves and combat boots, and a gun holster on each side. "You must surely recognize your visage in me, Ancestor." The stranger saw that Logan didn't believe him, but Kyle took a closer look at him. He was shocked to see that the two of them had a resemblance. "The glowing masked one sees it. Why don't you?"

"You know, he does look a little bit like you," said Kyle.

Logan glared at his friend before turning back to the so-called 'descendant'. "What's your name, pal, and where do you come from?" Logan asked.

"My name is Jakar, and I come from 250 years into the future," he said.

"Chun-Li, remind me to wring Booster Gold's neck later," he said to his friend-with-benefits, getting a giggle out of the girls.

"I don't know who Booster Gold is, Ancestor, so you should know for sure he's not involved."

"I don't know much about time travel, Jakar, but I do know that your story doesn't make much sense. This is mainly because Kiryo over there is mine and Cammy's descendant from around the same time as well." The revelation shocked Jakar, who has now figured out why Logan was angry with him.

"Apologies, sir, but he is not your true descendant. I am. I can prove it."

"And I know the best way." Logan felt a little tug from the trident under his foot and figured out about the telekinesis. "You know, at Kiryo's expense as well as my own, even someone from _my_ family would know that, even with telekinesis, if someone's standing on your little pitchfork here and they stand at 6'1" and weigh in at 236 lbs., wearing a Size 13 steel toe boot, it's not going anywhere," said the Assassin. "And don't bother trying to get the one Kyle's got. Being a Green Lantern, he has an impressive amount of willpower, even more than Hal Jordan." He saw that Jakar was getting nowhere, so he looked to Kyle, who let go of the trident that he had. The Assassin took his foot off the one that he had as well. He saw that Sharel had regained consciousness. "Sharel, I need you to heal Kiryo!"

Sharel saw that Logan arrived after hearing his voice. She looked to see what he was talking about and was severely horrified at the sight. She teleported to Kiryo, whose burns were still fresh, grabbed him, and warped back to the balcony. "Man, I didn't think that Kiryo would be hurt this badly," she said, forming a cool aura to soothe the burns, all while she had tears in her eyes. "Take him down, Logan! Pound this guy to the ground!" The exclamation frightened Jakar.

"I would normally object, but looking for Clayface ruined my day," Logan said. "And after you attacked my friends, especially Cammy, Chun-Li, and Kiryo, I'm especially going to have fun with this." He then turned to his Green Lantern friend. "Kyle, I need you to protect the others. This is going to get ugly." Kyle nodded and shielded the others. Logan jumped down to Jakar's level. As Jakar figured Logan to be disgusted at an opponent who holds back, he decided to give it all he had. He used his teleportation technique to get on the offensive, but Logan figured out immediately where he would appear. As Jakar appeared behind him, Logan ducked down on one hand and used a horse kick to knock him back to a wall.

Jakar got back up and saw that Logan was ready to keep going. He sent the tridents to his alleged ancestor, but the Assassin dodged them with his 'Flash Step'. Tried to trip the new guy up, but Jakar jumped into the air. Once he landed, Logan, Kyle, Cammy, Chun-Li, Sharel, and Nate (who just woke up) saw him charge the one technique that solidified Jakar's claim: 'Chidori'. _'So, it IS true,'_ Logan thought. He surged the tridents to his ancestor, who couldn't dodge this time. One of them stuck into his left arm, leaving Logan unable to use it. The Assassin saw Jakar charging for him and noticed something that surprised him a little. He pulled the trident out of his arm and jumped over Jakar, causing him to crash into the wall.

Because the walls were reinforced titanium, Jakar wound up hurting his own arm. "I think we need to stop. It's obvious we can't fight at our full capacity right now," Logan said, referring to their arms.

"No!" Jakar exclaimed. "I still have to try!" Logan shook his head at how reckless Jakar was being. Jakar teleported above his ancestor and sent the tridents down on him. As they neared him, Logan smirked and used his 'Flash Step', grabbed his opponent by his jacket, and surged down, causing the time-traveler to feel the impact of the landing on his chest. Logan then saw the tridents circling around him. He focused his energy and surrounded his body with a blue aura. Unlike 'Chidori Discharge', his hair and eyes remained the same. He let out a mighty roar similar to a lion, unleashing energy, making his left arm usable again, and sending the tridents back. "No…Way…" Jakar said, shocked at the scene.

Kiryo, who was finished healing, saw that Sharel was kissing his mouth. He broke the kiss and looked at the woman who saved his life with a blush on his face. It was obvious that Sharel had the same look on her face as well. "Um, thanks," he said nervously.

"No problem. I'd heal you anytime you needed it," she said. "I kissed you, though, because it was necessary. Jakar hit your lungs as well."

"Jakar?" Sharel directed Kiryo towards the arena and saw Jakar without his hood on. He also saw Logan with his aura around him. "Oh. That guy. I see Logan's giving his 'Lion's Roar' a test drive as well. Thank God for Yoruichi."

Back on the battlefield, Logan was amused by the shocked look on his newly-discovered descendant's face. "This little technique is called 'Lion's Roar'," he said, explaining the ability to Jakar. "It's a power enhancer that's currently taking the place of my 'Chidori Discharge' until I get control of it. A little heads-up: Kiryo over there has something similar." A shocked Jakar looked and saw that Kiryo was just fine. "I'm sure you've met Sharel."

"Yes I have, Ancestor," said the descendant. "What I'd like to know is why I can't move my arm."

"It's because 'Chidori' has a horse-with-blinders effect when used in the raw form. If you miss, you're bound to suffer the consequences. Kiryo knows this, which is why he uses variations of it like I do." At the mention of his counterpart's name, Jakar grew angry again.

"Even still, I hold a strong belief that I'm your true descendant. Why can't you see it?"

"I do believe that you're a descendant of mine, Jakar. I could tell that that was natural energy coming from you. What I would like to know is who I have to thank for such a good challenge."

"Logan!" Kiryo exclaimed. "Doesn't it bother you that there's another woman somewhere that gives you that fire-blasting bastard at all?"

"You're right, Kiryo. It does rattle my nerves a bit. That's why I'm asking." Logan then turned to his other descendant. "Out with it, Jakar. Who is it?"

"I can't tell you who my other ancestor is, but I can tell you that during the events that lead to my time, Cammy dies!" Jakar exclaimed, shocking Logan and Kiryo. "You can thank Bison for this!"

"What are you talking about? Bison's dead! Logan destroyed his last body!"

"Jakar could have a point. I hate to say this, Kiryo, but it was JUST his body I destroyed. His 'Psycho Power' is probably stuck in one of Shadaloo's machines somewhere."

"It still is," Jakar said. "I just don't know where. As for the direct cause of Cammy's death…"

"If it's Deathstroke, I'll be sure to snap his neck," said Logan.

"It's not Deathstroke that offs her, Ancestor. It's Charlie Nash." The revelation shook everyone, especially Ken, Guile, Chun-Li, and Logan, to the core.

"Okay, now I know you've lost your mind! Charlie Nash has been dead for about six or seven years! There is no way he's coming back!"

"You've got to believe me! Nash will come back for his revenge, but even then, that will create the Hell that becomes my future!"

"Then why target Cammy yourself?" Guile asked.

"I just…I figured that if I changed one little thing in the timeline, including the circumstances of Cammy death, it could very well avert the disaster."

"Jakar, the timeline is fragile," Kiryo said. "You have to be careful with it."

"What do you know, Scrunt!?" Jakar asked, getting a glare from Kiryo. "You're not even supposed to exist! I am his true descendant!"

"Do you really think my future's any better? I have Vandal Savage for a stepfather! How in the Hell could that be any better than the damage Bison does!?"

"Jakar, what Kiryo meant about the time stream was that if you made one wrong move, it could cost you your existence."

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Because you were too busy being what Logan calls a total jackass!"

"Okay, guys. Okay," Nate said, finally speaking up. "It's obvious that there's some tension here despite Logan's best effort and your friendly spar."

"Since when did you change your name to 'Dr. Phil'?" Logan asked, obviously joking.

"Don't compare me to him. He's a quack. Anyway, I have an idea to relieve some of that tension."

"If you say a song, Kyle and I are going to wring your neck."

"I wasn't going to say that. Who's Kyle?"

"The only Green Lantern here." Nate looked back and saw Kyle floating. "Congratulations. Now you've met all of Earth's Green Lanterns."

"Right…Anyways, why don't I bring Jakar with me? It's obvious that him living with you will have a different effect than with Kiryo. Hopefully that'll help sort things out. Plus, he'd make a very powerful Silver Lantern."

"Your call, Jakar. Whichever you choose, you have to stop targeting Cammy." They saw that the alternate descendant was contemplating the arrangements.

"Okay," he said. "I'll go with Nathaniel. But I'm _not_ becoming a Silver Lantern. I don't want to be a burden to you, Ancestor. I know you have some things to sort out. I'll be around if you need me."

Back up in the balcony, Sharel wasn't too keen on Jakar joining their group due to the events that had transpired, especially Kiryo getting burned. Still, she looked like she was scratching her head. "Something wrong, Sharel?" Chun-Li asked.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something…" said the blonde.

* * *

A while later, Logan finally got to training with Kiryo. Though Kiryo was having a tough time, he was still having fun with the training. Cammy had everyone (except for Nate's group) in the control room while the Assassins trained. She had the temperature at an intense high as ancestor and descendant clashed fists. Logan was happy that he was keeping up, chalking it up to Kiryo's training with Cammy and his recent sparring sessions with Ken. "Now I see why you and Wildcat call this place an 'Intense Training Facility'," Kiryo said.

"Oh yes," said Logan. "Nice work." They smirked and charged towards one another and traded blows.

* * *

At Nate's hideout, though, he was giving Jakar a tour of the place. He saw that his guest was still sad about his first meeting with Logan. After some reassurance, he took Jakar to the bedrooms. "…and this room is yours, Jakar," Nate said. "Make yourself at home. And don't worry about Logan. He just needs time to contemplate things. He and Cammy are still very much in love."

"I know," Jakar said. "But what if his actions to protect Cammy wind up costing me my existence. My ancestors have to meet."

"But who is the ancestor that leads to you?"

"I know you Silver Lanterns power your rings by curiosity, but I would rather not say." Nate had an understanding look on his face and left Jakar to go to sleep. When Nate saw Sharel with her contemplative look he was about to ask what was wrong when Jakar's door opened. "…and stay out!" the guest exclaimed, tossing the boneheads out of the room.

"Was it those idiots that you were trying to remember?"

"No, it was something else," she said. She passed by a certain door and heard a roar. She smirked, remembering just what it was as she walked on.

CHAPTER 31 END

* * *

**Okay, I took so long to upload this chapter because I mainly did this on my phone. Because of that, I couldn't see the amount of words I had so far. There are also a number of stories I need to get back to as well, including my most famous one. This doesn't mean that this is on hiatus. It just means that I need to get back to other works as well.**

**So we introduced Logan's alternate descendant and Kiryo's counterpart Jakar. I'm certain that you can get a glimpse of his personality just from reading this. It'll be interesting to see how he'll interact with his counterpart in the future, as well as discovering Logan's lover that leads to him. Stay tuned for more, especially since the next chapter is focused on Cloak and will introduce a DC hero that I've been wanting to use for quite some time.**


	32. The Voices in Cloak's Head!

**Time for one of the rare Cloak chapters. This one's going to be good since he'll get a new voice in his head, I'll get to use Deadman and Gentleman Ghost, and Cammy's 'sister' Juni will make her debut as well. Obviously, I'm using Logan and Kiryo in this too, along with Kisuke and Yoruichi.**

* * *

**The Voices in Cloak's Head!**

In far reaches of the galaxy, a planet was being decimated. Its people were running in fear due to a purple flame engulfing it. The environment, before the attacks started, was covered in darkness save for some glowing foliage of different colors. However, the planet was being ravaged by a figure dressed in red pants, a red trench coat, and a red hat with a winged skull on it. The man had pupil-less eyes, white hair, and an evil smile on his face.

The citizens of the planet cowered in fear as the dictator made his move, one that would be forever etched in the galaxy. "It's time to end this world once and for all," he said in a menacing tone. He floated back to his ship and squeezed his fist, destroying the planet. "That world never saw the light of day. And it never will." Little did he know that there was one that got away.

* * *

On Earth, though, Logan decided to have lunch with one of Cammy's 'sisters'. This Doll was Juni, who had agreed to stay with Logan while Cammy was back in England giving her reports to Colonel Wolfman. Juni was a young woman who had blue eyes, stood at Cammy's height and wore a turquoise blue long sleeve dress with a white turtleneck underneath, a pink belt, brown boots, and purple stockings. Her blonde hair was cut short with her bangs over her face. Simply to get to know her better, Logan also invited Shannon over as well, though she had to travel all the way from Gotham City. He had no need to invite Damian over because he knew just what he needed to from Bruce. Kiryo was also brought along as well.

They were at a nice restaurant eating out on the patio. In the short time that Logan and Juni got to know each other, they immediately took a liking to one another. They also learned that Shannon was perfect for working with the Bat Family, though they did learn that she had no qualms with working alongside other heroes besides Robin, having worked with Wildcat as well. They each placed an order for a Taco Salad due to Logan enjoying them before. "Thanks for taking us out to dinner, Logan," said Juni. "I needed to get out and about for a while."

"You and me both," Shannon said. "It's a good thing Batman gave me the day off, but my little brother's been annoying the living daylights out of me."

"Well I'm glad I could help out," said Logan. "I also figured that Kiryo's sushi diet wasn't that good for him."

"What is he, a younger relative?"

"Something like that, Shannon." Suddenly, they heard a ringing. Juni thought it was Cammy checking up on them, but Logan pointed out that it was coming from the Watchtower, revealing that it did come from his phone. He placed it on the table and pushed the 'Video Call' button. A hologram came up and revealed J'onn, who looked depressed. "J'onn, what's wrong?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

_"Something has happened, my friend,"_ said the Martian. _"Something very tragic."_

"Is that an alien?" Juni asked. "He looks pretty cool."

_"I am sorry to disturb your date."_

"Um…I-It's not a date, J'onn," Logan said while Juni was blushing. "Shannon and Kiryo are here too. Cammy had to report back to Colonel Wolfman."

_"Ah. As I was saying, the stars have experienced a tragedy. An entire planet was destroyed, engulfed by a purple flame."_ The explanation worried both of the Assassins, but the girls were confused. After a minute, Shannon became the only confused one since Juni was remembering what a 'purple flame' might mean. _"The planet that was destroyed was called 'Necros'. It's a shadow planet that has no sun. The Necronites look like humans, but with green skin. They had the ability to merge with an Exonian, enhancing their abilities. The offside is that such a merger is permanent, resulting in a few arguments. This type of merger is rare, however, but now it's nearly extinct."_

"You said 'nearly' like there are survivors," Kiryo said.

_"There is one. He's heading towards Earth now."_

"Uh-oh," Logan said, getting the attention of the others.

_"What have you to worry about? There are no Exonians on Earth and the Necronites cannot merge with humans,"_ J'onn said.

"Um, actually, there is an Exonian here. It's mine and Kiryo's friend Cloak. He got sent here by the late Yukon McSleeze while I was in Karakura Town helping Ichigo Kurosaki with a Hollow problem."

_"Find this Exonian and warn him! We cannot let the merger take place!"_

"Got it, J'onn." After hanging up, the waitress brought the gang their taco salads in to-go boxes. Since Logan's been there before with Cammy, she knew that there was a dire situation. The Assassin paid her despite her trying to tell him it's on the house.

_'How many girls, Logan…?'_ she thought, knowing Shannon and Juni were with him

* * *

In another spot in the city, Todd was walking through the outlet mall. He was still trying to figure out how he could help with the robot problem. He also saw how Logan's mellowed out as far as personality is concerned. He noticed that his friend was more patient and not quite as reckless as when they first met. Of course, this patience was required to teach Kiryo and think about how he could stay one step ahead of his enemies. While Logan did remind Todd of his brother, this distinction also served to be a great difference between the two of them. It frustrated him because Logan's patience also helps him to evolve in skill.

He looked and saw some bullies picking on a little girl. He looked and saw the mother being held back. Somebody went to get the security guard while this was going on. Since everyone was too scared to do something, Todd decided to step in. "…Now you give me your money or we'll do worse than this to you!" one of the bullies demanded.

"Let her go!" Todd exclaimed, getting their attention. "Or I'll become your worst nightmare!" The bullies obviously didn't believe him, so they attacked him for interfering. Big mistake on their part, as Todd kicked one hard in the chest, which sent him flying to a wall. Three more tried to attack him, one in the front and two behind him, but he grabbed the one in front by the leg and swung him, hitting his buddies and knocking them down for the count. The last bully let go of the girl's mother and attacked him with a chair. Todd simply replied with a bicycle kick to the guy's chin, causing the chair to hit the punk in the head and land on its feet. "Have a nice rest, fellas."

As the mother-daughter pair breathed a sigh of relief and said their 'thank yous' to Todd, the mall cop came. "Okay, buddy, you're under arrest for public disturbance," he said.

"Why don't you try arresting these guys, Blart," Cloak said, ticking off the officer.

"My name isn't Paul Blart, you smart-ass! It's Sam Schneider! Now let's get you down to the station!"

"That won't be necessary, Officer," said a voice, which turned out to be Logan. "He's with me. Besides, I bet these punks were picking on the little girl and her mother, right?" Todd and the two in question nodded. "So unless you're part of Jack's crew, common sense should kick in so you could arrest them."

Before the mall cop replied, his phone rang. "Hello?...Okay, I'll tell him." Sam hung up the phone before looking at Logan again. "Um, I'm not part of his crew and he also said that his name is 'Nick'. I'll get these guys in jail."

"He must be new," said Todd, getting a nod from Logan. As the two left the scene, Todd asked Logan a question. "So what are you doing here, Logan?"

"You're in my city. I thought you left after the incident with Rose," Logan said.

"You know what I mean."

"Well it's a good thing you're here. C'mon. We have to meet up with Kiryo and the others before I start explaining." The Exonian figured that this was a serious issue, so he waited until they got with the others, knowing that when it comes to serious issues, Logan hated explaining things twice.

* * *

They met up with the rest of the crew at the courtyard, where Todd saw the two unfamiliar faces as well as noticing Cammy wasn't present. Logan knew what he was thinking. "Todd, I'd like you to meet Shannon Youngblood, Gotham City's newest vigilante, and Juni, one of Cammy's 'sisters'," he said, getting the introductions out of the way. The girls greeted him with a wave. "You already know Kiryo."

"Of course," said Todd. "Now can you please tell me what the big deal is?"

Logan looked around to make sure there weren't any prying ears. "Okay, but before I do, how much do you know about Necronites?"

"Well, from what I've heard, Necronites tend to merge with Exonians, enhancing their abilities, but at times, nearly costing the said Exonian their sanity. In fact, it's happened before in front of my eyes. At some point before my brother and I got our Symbiotes, one of my employees happened to have been that case. He wasn't too happy with his work conditions nor was he too fond of his life at home. A Necronite possessed him by feeding off of his turmoil before I could get the chance to talk to him. These Necronites can take control of an Exonian's darkness, be it their negative emotions or their shadows. Luckily, such a phenomenon is also rare. In fact, that former employee of mine was the most recent case. Now why do you ask?"

"Because the Martian Manhunter called Logan's phone," said Kiryo.

"Yeah, he said something about the Necronite planet being destroyed," Juni added. Shannon nodded for both of them.

"Then it looks like the Necronites are extinct," Todd said. "Kind of a waste of time bringing me here, wouldn't you say, Logan?"

"We haven't even finished yet," said the Assassin. "J'onn also said that there was one on his way here right now…and he's moving at a fast pace."

"Then I guess I should keep an eye out." What they didn't know was that an object crash a ways outside of St. Louis.

* * *

Later at night, Cloak decided to go out on patrol. In spite of Logan's offer to spend the night at the hideout, he declined. He saw that Shannon and Juni took up the offer. He roamed around on the rooftops to scout around. The Exonian also kept to his word and upped his guard in case the Necronite was around. However, he had to keep an extra eye out once he learned that the Symbiote couldn't detect Necronites. "Tonight's kind of peaceful, even for St. Louis," he said.

**"It is good for Logan and Kiryo to get some rest,"** said the Symbiote. **"I cannot imagine that things have been easy for them and Cammy lately, especially Kiryo on account of the Rose incident."**

_'You got that right.'_ As they were conversing, Todd heard a noise. He looked around and saw some barrels knocked down. He got his Symbiote Swords ready to fight. He saw a shadowy figure emerging from the barrels and recognized him as the Necronite. He cautiously approached him while the new face looked up in the sky at something. He tried cutting the Necronite, but it dodged and tackled him down. When Cloak got back up, he saw no sign of the Necronite anywhere. _'Damn. Where is he?'_ He heard nothing from his Symbiote. _'Are you there?'_ Still nothing. _'That's not good. What was that Necronite looking at?'_

* * *

The next morning, Logan opened his eyes and tried to get up. He felt a weight on his shoulder and chest, so he looked and saw an arm on his chest. He also saw a head of blonde hair on his shoulder. It dawned on him that Juni didn't want to sleep alone last night. Naturally, being the gentleman that he is, he let her sleep with him. Lucky for him, they didn't make love since he didn't want to cheat on Cammy. He decided that he needed to get up, though, so he lightly nudged her shoulder. "Wakey-wakey, sleepy-head," he gently said. Juni slightly opened her eyes and saw Logan's smiling face.

"Can we please stay in bed?" she asked. "You're too comfy." This made Logan chuckle a little bit, enjoying how cute Juni can be. To her shock, he picked her up bridal style and stood up. Afterwards, he gently put her back on the bed. He saw the blush on her face and smiled. "Okay. You win. I'm going to tell Cammy you cheated in the wake-up game, though."

Logan smiled and left to let Juni get dressed. He opened up a can of cat food and set it on the ground for Oreo and Tigress. After that, Kiryo came out of his room yawning. The two Assassins noticed that the training room was open and remembered that Shannon was an early riser. They looked and saw her punching a punching bag. After several punches, she reeled back for a big one. Logan and Kiryo suddenly realized her hidden strength as she struck the bag. The impact was hard enough to knock the bag off the hook and send it to the wall. "Yikes! Remind me to be extra nice to Shannon from now on," Kiryo remarked.

"And the same goes with Damian too," said Logan. "I've never even seen Makoto pack that much power and she's one of the strongest girls in her age group."

"Morning, guys," Shannon said casually as she passed by them. She then saw Juni coming out of Logan's room fully dressed, causing her to look at their host in a suggestive manner. "Logan, you dog."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Shannon. We didn't do that." It was obvious that Shannon didn't believe him. Suddenly, Logan held his head as his 'Spirit Sense' kicked in, causing the girls to be worried. "It's Todd. I think he came across that Necronite last night." He saw that Juni had a bowl and cereal in her hands, but she put them back and got a snack bar. "You really want to come along, don't you, Juni?"

"Cammy wouldn't let either of us go alone," she said. "Why should I let you?"

"Logan's done more than hold his own many times, Juni," Kiryo said. "This was even before he got with Auntie Soifon. He'll be fine."

"Still, if you recall right, I had to get not only Soifon's help, but also yours, Supergirl's, and the Flash's to help deal with Birdie and Firefly on Christmas Eve, so some backup wouldn't hurt. However, I don't know how well Juni will be able to handle herself. Cammy did say we'd have to keep an eye on her."

"Watch my back all you want, but I'm still coming," said the Doll, getting a reluctant nod from her new friend.

* * *

Out in the city, the civilians were observing a weird sight. From their perspective, it looked like Cloak was doing an odd sword dance. However, two of the spectators knew what was going on. Logan, Juni, Kiryo, and Shannon took to the rooftops. They saw the two said spectators, both of whom Logan recognized immediately. "Kisuke! Yoruichi!" he exclaimed, getting their attention. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Nice to see you guys," Yoruichi said, greeting Logan and Kiryo with a hug.

"I wish we were here on vacation, though," said Kisuke. "Unfortunately, as you can see, something's gotten into Cloak. The civilians think he's lost his mind."

"Well he hasn't. Not completely, anyway," Logan said. "Look who he's fighting." The Soul Reapers smiled as Logan and Kiryo observed Cloak's opponent. He was a bald spirit with ghostly eyes wearing a black-and-red collared leotard with a capital 'D' on the chest, white gloves, and white boots.

"It's Deadman," Kiryo said. Shannon and Juni were confused and a little scared.

"He must still be around in your time, so to speak." Kiryo nodded in confirmation before they turned to the others. "When he was still alive, 'Deadman' was originally a nickname for Boston Brand, an acrobat who performed at Haley's Circus, which is where Dick Grayson also came from. To this day, Batman's still investigating the circumstances of Boston's murder."

"It's because Boston still has unfinished business that we were never able to perform the Konso Ritual on him," said Kisuke. "In fact, we're still unable to." They saw that Deadman threw Cloak to the ground, near another familiar face. This resulted in Logan scowling and jumping down.

"Where are you going, Logan?" Yoruichi asked.

"I'm going to put a stop to this…and say 'hi' to a friendly rival." This left the others confused until Kiryo saw the familiar face.

* * *

As Logan made his way to the scenario, he heard a voice that confirmed the identity of the person that Kiryo also knew. "I don't know what you're beating yourself up for, Cloak, but you're kind of embarrassing yourself," said the figure, who turned out to be Alex. As the New Yorker took a sip of his Gatorade, Logan smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to do a spittake. "Some greeting, Logan. What's going on with him? Do you know?"

"Oh yeah," Logan said. "He's possessed and he's fighting a spirit."

"If he's possessed, shouldn't you perform an exorcism?"

"An exorcism won't work in this case. He's merged with an alien, one whose species occasionally merges with his."

_"I thought I sensed that Necronite in this guy,"_ Deadman said, getting Logan's attention.

"I'm going to guess that you've had plenty of run-ins with this particular Necronite, Boston?"

"Yo! Who are you talking to?" Alex said, reminding Logan that he couldn't see spirits. He formed a fist and punched his Greenwich Village rival square in the jaw. "OW! What was that for?"

"Now take a look, Alex." The wrestler looked up and was immediately surprised at the sight of Deadman. "Alex, meet Deadman. Deadman, this is Alex."

_"'Sup?'"_ Deadman greeted, freaking the wrestler out even more. Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kiryo, Shannon, and Juni joined the group as well.

"I thought that reverse mullet looked familiar," Kiryo said. "This is Alex, a wrestler from Greenwich Village. What are you doing here?"

"Forget that! How the Hell am I seeing that ghost!?" Alex asked, getting a smirk from his rival. Juni and Shannon were still confused until Logan gently placed his hands over their eyes. Once he removed them, they saw Deadman for themselves. "What did you do?"

"I focused my 'Spirit Sense' into my hands and placed them on your faces so you could see spirits like me and Kiryo. Kisuke and Yoruichi could already because they're Soul Reapers. This lasts a good 72 hours," Logan explained.

"Okay then, why'd you punch me?"

"Because it was fun."

"Guys," Yoruichi said. "What about Cloak?" They turned to their friend and saw that he had the Symbiote Swords out again.

"Boston, don't move," said Kiryo.

_"And why not?"_ Deadman asked.

"The swords can't touch you. There's no need for you to dodge," said Kisuke. Deadman did as Kiryo told him to test out Kisuke's explanation. Cloak took some swings at him, but found that he couldn't hurt him. "What did I tell you?"

_"Okay, you win, Hat-n-Clogs. Now can you tell me how to get the Necronite out of that guy?"_

"Sorry, Boston. It's permanent. Now if we can get some answers out of him, we've got a good start on getting through," Logan said before approaching Cloak. "We need answers from you."

_**"Like what?"**_ said the Necronite.

"Well, a name would be a good start."

_**"Fine then. My name is Dark Bane. It is one given to me due to being deemed an outlaw by my fellow Necronites. In my years, I have come across that spirit many times. He won't leave me alone!"**_

_"I sensed plenty of evil in your soul. That's why I kept trying to take you down,"_ said Deadman.

_**"Well you're certainly good at annoying me, Deadman. As for why I'm here now, Earthlings, it's because my home planet was destroyed!"**_

"We got that memo from the Martian Manhunter. He even told us about your kind, Bane, including the merger you have with our friend Cloak," Logan said. "Now why did you come here? You know Exanton's still around."

**_"It's because I figured that the monster who destroyed my planet would've seen my ship if I went there. I hit the big speed and got here in about the time it would take a Class-A Fortress' teleporter beam. Since I landed, I've been fighting Deadman at night. When this Exonian approached me, I knew that he would be a good place to hide."_**

"What did you use to merge with him?" Kiryo asked.

**_"That's simple. Cloak didn't have a darkness in his heart. Just a small frustration at your ancestor's progress in battle."_** The revelation shocked the girls and Alex while Logan shook his head and Kisuke opened up a fan.

"So you searched his memories too, huh?" Logan asked, getting a nod from Dark Bane. "Then I'll take a wild guess and say that you merged with him through his Symbiote."

**_"That's right, human. You're smarter than you look."_** This earned him a glare from the Assassin. **_"As for why I'm here, the monster that destroyed my planet was a man of pure evil. He emitted these purple flames from his body. He also had on what looks like a military uniform. And his eyes were just as evil as he is."_**

"I don't like where this is going," Kisuke said, followed by a gulp from Yoruichi.

"Why? What's going on?" asked Shannon. "There can't be anyone more evil than Lex Luthor."

**_"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, little girl. In fact, I even remember one detail on this evil being's uniform that you should fear. Got something to draw with?"_** Shannon dug into her satchel and handed him some chalk. He found it to be perfect as he drew the image on the brick. As the drawing began to take shape, Logan, Yoruichi, and Juni all had a horrified expression on their faces. **_"You all look like you've seen a ghost. Besides Deadman, of course,"_** Dark Bane joked.

"More like we're damn close to seeing one again," Logan said. "Kiryo, I'm already starting to think what Jakar said was true."

"You mean about him?" Kiryo said, getting a nod from his ancestor. That's when Kiryo realized why Logan, Juni, and Yoruichi were scared. Alex gritted his teeth.

"No way! That's those Shadaloo creeps!" he exclaimed.

"That's right. They're the reason why you wear the red face paint, aren't they, Alex?" Logan asked.

"Damn straight."

"This must mean that your planet was destroyed by Bison."

**_"That's what he called himself,"_** Dark Bane said.

"I have to speak to Todd. Let him take control."

**_"And what makes you think I'm going to do that?"_** Logan answered by slamming Todd's head with a pair of electrically-powered hands, forcing the Symbiote back into Todd's bloodstream.

"Are you okay, Todd?"

"I've got a bit of a headache, but I think I'll live," Todd said. "But did you have to do that?"

"Sorry, but shocking your Symbiote was the only way I could get it to retreat back into your bloodstream." Understanding, Todd nodded before seeing the three faces he didn't see yesterday.

"I see you have Kisuke, Alex, and Yoruichi with you." That's when he noticed Dark Bane's drawing. "What's this? I've seen it in Dark Bane's memories."

"That is the emblem of Shadaloo, meaning that it was Bison that destroyed Necros."

"I see."

"Um, Logan," Kisuke said, getting everyone's attention. "There's also a supernatural criminal we've been after. Byakuya wouldn't let us send Rukia and Isshin wouldn't let us send Ichigo, both of them because they were busy with their duties."

"What's this supernatural criminal look like?"

"Oh, nothing too major. He's just a walking white tux with a cane, gloves, monocle, and a top hat."

"Craddock!" Logan and Kiryo said.

"Kiryo encountered him too?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yep," Kiryo said. "Like Deadman here, Craddock's a spirit, only he goes by Gentleman Ghost. In addition to Boston, Craddock's other target that I know of is Jason Blood, mainly because of his inner demon Etrigan."

"Etrigan and Deadman aren't Gentleman Ghost's only targets," Logan said. "He's also had a few conflicts with Hawkman and John."

"'John' as in the Green Lantern John Stewart?" Kisuke asked.

"Yep. C'mon, let's go look for him."

* * *

Night came and the group looked around for Craddock. Logan teamed up with Juni, Cloak with Alex, Kiryo with Shannon, Kisuke with Yoruichi, and Deadman by himself. Logan didn't like this one bit. Like with Clayface, he never did like facing Gentleman Ghost. Having worked with Deadman in the past, Logan knew firsthand how much of a pain Craddock could be. Having Juni with him didn't make things any easier for him since the crook always targeted beautiful young ladies during his lifetime in 19th Century England. That's what he learned from John anyway.

Juni saw that her friend was obviously worried for her. What she didn't realize was that it wasn't just her he was worried about. Gentleman Ghost could also target Shannon and Yoruichi as well. "Where are you, you dead bastard…?" Logan asked, obviously frustrated. He saw that Juni was just as worried about him. "Sorry, Juni. It's just that Craddock usually hacks me off."

"I figured as much," she said. "So, what do you think of me? Of our friendship?" The question shocked Logan big time since he didn't expect it. "I know that it was suddenly shoved into your hands due to Cammy's Delta Red duties, but I've been enjoying it."

"Wow, that was a shocker," he said. "Truth be told, Juni, I think you're pleasant company. You're adorable, funny, and...just flat-out incredible. Of course, if you count Cammy, you're actually the third Doll I've met."

"So you see different personalities with each of us?" Logan confirmed with a nod. "That's good. If we were all the same, that would be boring. From what I understand, the second Doll that you've met, Decapre, was a bit robotic unless she was speaking to you or Cammy." They were too busy in their conversation to notice a ghostly presence appear behind them. "...The reason I asked what you thought of me was..." Before she could finish, Logan noticed the presence of the ghost, who matched Kisuke's description to a tee. As he reached for his sword, Gentleman Ghost slammed them with an energy blast, sending them to the ground and knocking them out. Juni landed on top of Logan when they hit the ground.

_"Sleep tight, lovebirds,"_ he said, laughing at the duo.

* * *

As Kiryo and Shannon were running on the rooftops, the former stopped, having sensed what happened to his ancestor and their new friend. Shannon asked what was wrong, only to get no response from him. He got his communicator out and contacted Cloak. "Hey, Todd," he said. "It's Kiryo. Logan and Juni are knocked out. I think Craddock got to them."

_"Alex and I are about to check it out right now,"_ said the Exonian. _"Deadman should be on his way as well."_

"We're heading over there too." Kiryo hung up and signaled Shannon to come along. They hopped from building to building until they saw Boston hovering over their spot. They saw Cloak, but Shannon was unsure if it was Todd in control or Dark Bane. Alex gently moved Juni and gave her to Yoruichi, who also showed up, before turning his attention back to his rival. He punched him in the chest, but got no response. He did it again and got the same result. He then picked Logan up and started slapping him in the face. "Um, Alex," Kiryo said. "You know he's going to get payback, right?"

Alex didn't listen to the descendant as he kept it up. He reeled back and prepared a punch, only for Logan to finally respond by blocking his fist, grabbing his shoulder, and head-butting him. "Good to see that you still have some fight in you," said the wrestler, who quickly recovered.

"Where's Craddock?" Logan asked, noticing that Juni was alright. Kiryo and Cloak noticed that the Assassin could barely stand, Alex having not helped much.

_"I don't think he's gone very far,"_ said Deadman. They looked and saw Craddock with his cane in hand, ready to fire another blast. Deadman charged for him, but Craddock swatted him away before firing on him. Shannon got out two sets of Nth metal knuckles and put her satchel down, putting one set on each fist. She charged for Gentleman Ghost and even used the knuckles to block the blast that was heading her way. To the surprise of the others, she jumped over Craddock, turned around, and punched him where his jaw would be, quickly revealing a walking corpse of a man before turning back to his Gentleman Ghost form. Shannon struck again before trying a third time.

He countered by sending her flying with an energy blast. _"It's a shame I would have to kill such a pretty face,"_ he said. _"Perhaps I'll see you in the afterlife."_ Before he could finish the teenager off, though, Kiryo held one of his swords where Craddock's neck would be and tried to choke him. _"Even with Nth metal, that isn't going to work."_

"I'm going to send you to Hell, Craddock!" Kiryo exclaimed through gritted teeth.

_"Dear lad, I've already been there. Don't tell me you have not met Etrigan."_ Kiryo responded by slashing at Craddock with both of his swords, which Craddock figured out were both made of Nth metal like Logan's own sword and Shannon's knuckles. Craddock quickly knocked him down as well. He then turned his attention to Alex and Cloak. Alex tried to hit him with a 'Slash Elbow', but was reminded that Craddock was a ghost. He was K.O.'ed as well.

"Can you move?" Cloak asked Logan, mirroring the concerned looks that Kisuke and Yoruichi had as well.

"Thanks to that idiot Alex, that's a no," Logan painfully said. "Use my sword, Todd. Yours won't cut him." Cloak nodded and got the sword from Logan's sheath. The Exonian got ready to battle while suppressing Dark Bane as much as he could. He charged for Craddock, fighting without Pitch this time since he wouldn't be able to touch him like he would Scorpion. He slid through Craddock after the latter fired another shot from his cane. He came up and slashed the ghost in the chest as he turned around. Gentleman Ghost phased through the ground and came up behind Cloak.

He hit Cloak with another energy blast from his cane and sent him back several feet. _"You don't even know how to use that blade. Why don't you just give up?"_ Craddock asked before hitting Cloak with another shot. He kept it up, not knowing that a certain Necronite was slowly taking the Exonian over. When he unleashed a final blast, Cloak swatted it away with his sword. Or at least, he thought it was Cloak. Logan sensed that Dark Bane took control.

**_"You should watch where you tread, Craddock,"_** Bane said in his sinister tone. **_"Otherwise, you may regret it."_**

_"I don't know who you are, but you are wasting both of our time!"_

_**"Let's just say that I've just come across a case of Multiple Personality Syndrome."**_ Bane attacked the ghost, who kept blocking the slashes with his cane. He slashed Craddock's chest after he lost balance. He cut the ghost to the point where he couldn't stand anymore. Before he could stab him, though, he vanished. _**"You there, human!"**_ he exclaimed, getting Logan's attention. **_"Where did he go? Can you sense him?"_** Logan sensed around for Craddock before answering.

"He's long gone, Bane," he said. "Rest easy, and let Todd take over again." Dark Bane was about to tell him off, but Kisuke intervened with a Kido spell: 'Hado no. 31: Byakurai'. This served to shock Cloak back into control of his own body. "Please tell me that wasn't a full-incantation Kido. I know what you're capable of, Kisuke."

"Well, I was the Captain of Squad 12," said the shop owner. Kisuke helped Cloak up as Juni woke up as well. Logan went and picked up Alex while Kiryo helped Shannon. Deadman floated by them.

"C'mon. Let's find somewhere we can rest. And maybe get Alex back to his trailer." The others nodded, but we're still concerned about the shape the Assassin was in.

* * *

They got to the park as Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Juni were bandaging everyone up. The Dollar was mostly focused on Logan and Kiryo, though. Kisuke healed up Cloak while Yoruichi went to work on Shannon. "Hey, Todd," Logan painfully said, getting his friend's attention. "You're going to have to learn to control that inner demon of yours."

"Well, I was able to see Deadman thanks to him," the Exonian said. "You mind teaching me how to use these abilities?"

"Sure thing. And Juni?" The Doll looked at him. "Thanks for keeping us company. But let's not tell Cammy about this, okay?"

"About what, you two?" Asked a familiar voice. Logan, Juni, and Kiryo freaked out because they knew who it was.

CHAPTER 32 END

* * *

**Okay, so there's the second chapter to feature Cloak and Shannon in the same one. This is the first time they've met, though. It's also my second to feature Alex and Kisuke, my third to feature Yoruichi, and my first to feature Deadman, Juni, and Gentleman Ghost. Hope you like it.**


	33. Animals!

**Alright now, I promised that buddy of mine who let me use Nate that I would get to this chapter. This will introduce a new SL as well as bring in a certain duo of super pets. Mechanikat (from Krypto the Superdog) will be one of the main antagonists along with a certain gorilla that was included for Injustice 2. Logan and Nate will be in this as well.**

* * *

**Animals!**

Smallville, Kansas, was a farming community. Usually nice and peaceful, the exception was the landing of a space pod years ago, which housed a baby from Krypton. That baby was found and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. With the morals instilled in him, this baby, who typically goes by his Earth name 'Clark Kent', would go on to become one of the best reporters for the Daily Planet, as well as one of the Justice League's Big 3 along with Batman and Wonder Woman. Yes, Smallville was one of three places, along with Krypton and Metropolis, that could be considered home for the Man of Steel himself: Superman.

The farmers, including Jonathan Kent, we're growing quite the crop this year. However, Jonathan, who wore a plaid work shirt underneath his overalls along with a pair of work boots, was getting up there in his age, so he had Clark's dog 'Spot' helping out. 'Spot' was a white dog of a generic breed who had on a special type of dye around his left eye to make it look real. Old Man Kent was grateful to have 'Spot' around. They took a break so Jonathan could go get a glass of water. When he finished, he saw that his garden was completely tilled.

Most would find it odd considering that it was halfway done when he took his break. However, he smirked upon seeing his adopted son wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans. Clark also had on his glasses while his hair was slicked back. Now, Clark kneeled down to pet his dog. "Good boy," he said, praising 'Spot' before turning to Jonathan. "How are you, Pa?"

"I'm doing well, Clark," said the old man. "So how's life been treating you? Did you and Lois hit it off yet?"

"Jonathan!" Martha exclaimed, scolding her husband. "Clark comes back after a long time and that's the first thing you ask him? Shame on you!"

"What? It's a perfectly good question." Clark just stood there amused at his parents' bickering. "Anyways, Clark, how's life with the Justice League?"

"It's good, dad," said the reporter. "The League has a few new allies that have split themselves into two different teams. One's in St. Louis doing what Batman usually does, but more laid back. The other team is mainly a new Lantern group called the 'Silver Lanterns'. They, especially Sharel, protect Coast City and usually work with a Green Lantern while they're at it."

"I've been hearing around the rumor mill about these 'Silver Lanterns', but I didn't think it was true," Martha said.

"Well it is. I worked with both of them, as well as a freelance vigilante and an anti-hero of sorts to deal with Bizarro and his clones. Logan already works well with Conner and Kara, but I still feel he has a hard time trusting me. Speaking of which, where is Conner?"

"Right here," Conner said, just coming in wearing his black shirt and jeans. He had the shirt inside-out so the 'S' shield wouldn't be seen. "I was just putting the hay up. Hey, bro."

"What's going on, Kon-El? Are you and Kara finally getting along?"

"Tch. Barely. At least we're getting along better now than we were when we first met. I think our friend Logan might've had something to do with that."

"Yeah, I still have a problem with clones," said Kara, coming in wearing a pair of overalls and a white shirt. She was carrying groceries.

"Well, it looks like the family's all here," said John. "Why don't you kids relax while we fix dinner."

"Are you sure, Pa?"

"I'm sure, Conner. We'll be fine."

* * *

The three Kryptonians made their way to the living room to discuss recent events. "Something's wrong," said Kara to her cousins. "Luthor's been quiet lately. In fact, last I heard, Logan met him personally for the first time in the Middle East."

"That was also the last time Deathstroke was seen, wasn't it?" Conner asked, getting a nod from the blonde. "Wasn't Steel there too?"

"He was too busy fixing the _Javelin_," Clark explained. "But Logan's got an ally that you two haven't even met yet. Her name is Sharel, and from what I understand, Cammy would love nothing more than to have her feel her hands around her neck." This shocked Kara and Conner both, especially since they figured Cammy to be pretty sweet. "Both of them met Rashid the Wind Master, who teamed up with Logan to take down Slade."

"Why doesn't Cammy like Sharel? Is she after Logan or something?" asked Kara.

"She's after Kiryo's affection. The reason Cammy's protective of him is because he's Logan and Cammy's descendant."

"And you found this out how?"

"When you're allies with Batman, you tend to learn a few things." Clark and Kara saw that Connor wasn't paying much mind, instead looking out the window. "Conner?"

"Excuse me, guys," he said. "I have a monkey problem to deal with." This confused the full-blooded Kryptonians until they looked and saw a certain gorilla with a gold helmet on him outside. Conner switched his shirt so that the 'S' shield would show. Superboy came out first so Clark and Kara could have time to change. "What are you doing here, Grodd?"

"That is none of your concern, boy," said Grodd. "I'm here for the dog. Bring him here and I'll leave peacefully."

"Over my dead body."

"That will do just fine!" Grodd tried to use his telepathy on Superboy, but was dumbfounded that it had no effect. "Surprised? There are two things that are keeping me from your mind control: A) I'm a CADMUS clone. I've been through enough to resist it; and B) I hate monkeys, which doesn't bode well for you."

"You're going to pay for that one!" Grodd angrily charged after Conner, but the hybrid got the first punch in. He sent the psychic gorilla flying towards the barn and jumped towards him, getting another punch ready. Grodd anticipated this, however, and sent psychic shockwaves through Superboy's mind, causing a headache for him. This also caused the boy to lose focus long enough for Grodd to punch him back a ways. "Well, it looks like you're not completely immune, boy," he said before raising his foot to smash him. As Grodd surged his foot down, Superboy grabbed it and attempted to push him off.

The hybrid saw the gorilla being lifted off of him, so he looked and saw Supergirl throwing their primate foe across the field. "I had it under control!" Conner exclaimed.

"Clearly," she sarcastically responded. They heard Grodd shout in rage, so they braced themselves for the incoming impact. It didn't come due to Superman arriving and stopping the gorilla in his tracks with a stiff arm.

"Your madness stops here, Grodd!" exclaimed the Man of Steel. "Give up while you still can!"

"It's funny that all three of you are here, Superman. I've got a little something for you," Grodd said, pulling a grenade out. He pulled out the pin and tossed it to the three Kryptonians. It exploded and covered the trio with Kryptonite dust, causing them to collapse. "Now, where's the pup?" Just as he asked that, a white blur blindsided him. It was revealed to be 'Spot' in his true identity as Krypto, complete with a red cape, blue collar, and 'S' shield dog tag. He also didn't have the dye on his eye anymore. "Ah, just the pup I was looking for." Krypto growled and charged at the gorilla, but fell victim to a spray can of liquid Kryptonite, passing out in the process. "And Luthor thinks he's got the most uses out of this stuff," he mused as he picked Krypto up. He kicked Superboy as he passed by him.

After Grodd left, an orange cat neared the trio with a worried look. He let out a breath strong enough to blow the Kryptonite dust away from them. They found that they could barely stand. Supergirl looked and saw the cat, but not Krypto. "Streaky…" she began, digging out a picture and writing on the back of it. The picture was a selfie she took with Logan. "You have to…go to…St. Louis…find this man. You and he are the only ones who can get Krypto back from Grodd." She put the picture in Streaky's collar. The cat meowed in confirmation and flew off to St. Louis, leaving Kara to pray for both of their safeties.

* * *

In St. Louis, Nate happened to be visiting again, only this time, he had an unusual guest with him. It was a new member of his Silver Lantern Corps, who happened to be a gorilla. This primate, unlike Grodd, was one that only spoke like a gorilla. He had brown fur, a grey vest with half of the SL insignia on each side, a silver chain with silver bananas on it, dark sunglasses, and a silver ball cap with the insignia on it, which he wore backwards. Nate just happened to have made a ring big enough to fit on his finger. Right now, the gorilla was doing tricks in a skate park with a skateboard construct with Nate and some onlookers watching. Nate had a smile on his face while the skateboarders were dumbfounded. "Okay, Jim John, that's enough monkeying around," Nate said after the gorilla did a 720 degree spin.

They heard some clapping, so they looked and saw a girl smiling in excitement. Nate could tell that she was a skateboarder due to the helmet and board. She had on a pair of Converse shoes, calf-high socks, tattoos on her right arm, and red hair. She was dressed in a yellow tank top and camouflage cargo shorts. Her attire was complete with an American flag bandana on her head. "I'm impressed," she said. "I've seen some unusual sights in my life, but never a skateboarding gorilla, especially one with a fashion sense like that. Deana Wright."

"Nathaniel Dement," Nate said, introducing himself as they shook hands. He then pointed to the gorilla. "This here is Jim John. He's a bit of a nut when it comes to anything featured on the Olympics or the X-Games."

"So you're that Silver Lantern that occasionally helps Logan out. You and the other one. The girl."

"Uh, yeah, that's us. Jim John here is our newest addition. I've been trying to train him as a Silver Lantern, but no such luck."

"Nathaniel, maybe while you're training him, you can discover his strengths and weaknesses, and see how they can benefit you and your comrades in the long run. This gorilla will always be himself like he is a Silver Lantern." Deana and Nate saw that Logan was running on rooftops again. "Maybe now's a good chance to see how well Logan can work with Jim John," she said, getting a nod from the Silver Lanterns. "See you around."

* * *

Logan was patrolling on the rooftops looking for something to do. He wanted to train with Kiryo, but Cammy had that handled. There were also his rivalries with Alex and Juri, but the former was back in New York and the latter was nowhere to be found. Hell, he'd even be willing to fight Vega if he was in town. He suddenly look up and saw a flying orange cat looking around. The cat found him and descended down to him. "The lightning bolt pattern in your fur," he said. "You must be Kara's cat Streaky. What happened to her?" He noticed the note in Streaky's collar, so he removed it.

_"Dear Logan, _

_Please help Streaky rescue our dog. You're the only one who can. _

_Sincerely and with much gratitude, _

_Kara Zor-El, AKA Supergirl."_

"Krypto's been kidnapped?" Streaky meowed to confirm his guess. Before he could get an answer, he heard Nate call him down. "It looks like Nate's got a new friend." The Assassin and the Supercat jumped down to join them.

* * *

They sat at a table at the skate park. Logan was introduced to Deana and Jim John while they and Nate were introduced to Streaky. Logan, being a cat lover, noticed that Streaky was uncomfortable around the gorilla. Jim John tried to pet him and even scratched him under the chin, but the feline wasn't having any of that. He bit down hard on Jim John's finger, causing the gorilla to cry in pain, tears included. "Nate, I don't think your twin brother can handle a cat biting him," Logan said, being a smart alack.

"HEY!" Nate shouted, getting a laugh from Deana. "He is NOT my twin brother! And if anything, your cat caused it!"

"Streaky's not my cat. He's Supergirl's. My cat has the patience of a saint and the 'give-a-damn' attitude of an old man. However, Streaky and I do need to rescue Superman's dog Krypto. I was about to find out from whom before you called us down."

"How would you have found out from a cat? They don't speak human."

"Normally, they don't unless you wear a special earpiece that allows you to talk to animals. However, you remember my 'Spirit Sense', right?" Nate nodded while Deana was intrigued. "It allows me to communicate with animals that I associate with the most, which in this case are cats and dogs." Streaky hopped on the table and let Logan pet him. He gently did that with his right hand while putting two fingers of his left on his temple. As Nate, Deana, and Jim John looked, Logan managed to pick up what happened from Streaky's point-of-view. "Damn. Poor Supergirl," he said when he finished seeing the scene. "However, now I know why you have a problem with Jim John."

"Why's that?" Deana asked as Logan pulled up a file.

"This guy right here. His name is Gorilla Grodd. He comes from a hidden city of super intelligent apes. He's one of the Flash's enemies, but the last time I saw him, me and Chun-Li teamed up with Raven and a Spyral agent to defeat him, Monsieur Mallah, Ultra-Humanite, and Gorilla Boss. That was also the first time I met Deathstroke the Terminator."

"This Spyral agent must be really good."

"He is. I've worked with him many times before. He's a bit of a smart-ass, but his skillset rivals Batman's and Green Arrow's. Any other government agent I'd have a problem working with. However, I've known this guy since I was starting out."

"So this Spyral agent has a name, doesn't he?" Nate asked.

"He does, but I'd rather not tell you. His codename is 'Agent 37'. Anyway, I better track down Grodd. Who knows what kind of trouble Krypto could be in?" He then had a good look at Streaky and figured out what he was missing. He tied a blue cloth to his collar to act as a cape. "There. Now you should really feel like a Supercat." Streaky smiled and meowed at the remark.

* * *

Deana decided to stay behind while Logan, Nate, Streaky, and Jim John went on their way to get to Grodd. Streaky rode in a bag on Logan's back that functioned as a seat for animals. He also wore a cat-sized helmet and goggles. Nate had Jim John flying with him, but was amazed that the ape was flying faster than he was. Nate upped his speed so he could catch up as Logan began speaking. "Okay, guys!" he began, getting the attention of the two Silver Lanterns. "I haven't been to Kansas in a long time! It's also been a while since I last fought Grodd, but I do remember that he utilizes psychic attacks as well as brute strength!"

"So you're basically saying that dealing with him won't be easy? Don't worry! We'll handle Grodd! You just work on freeing Krypto!" Nate said, followed by a thumbs up from Jim John.

"Before we get there, though, there's a farming community I'd like to stop at! Superman's Spirit Signature is emitting from there!" This left Nate confused as Logan headed towards Smallville. Little did the Silver Lantern know, they were going to meet the Kent family.

* * *

The residents of Smallville were hard at work fixing up the Kents' farm after Conner's brawl against Grodd. Logan was definitely glad to see the community working together, something he wished happened in the big cities more often. He parked his motorcycle in front of the house as Nate and Jim John landed. At the sight of Jim John, the citizens ran away, obviously traumatized by the sight of Grodd from earlier. Nate didn't know why Logan wanted to stop here, but Streaky did: It was to check on the Kryptonians, especially Kara.

The Assassin knocked on the door, getting Jonathan to answer it. As with the others, the sight of Jim John was a bit confusing to the old man, but he knew the difference between him and Grodd. "Yes? Can I help you?" he asked.

"Sir, is it alright if we check on Superman and his teammates?" asked Logan, who had a worried tone in his voice.

"Of course, young man. Just you and Streaky, though. I'd like to find out more about your Silver Lantern pals, Young Washburn."

"Heh, he told you about me, did he?" The old man just smiled as he let them in, Streaky hopping out of the bag and on Logan's shoulder. The Assassin/Supercat duo went upstairs to Clark's bedroom to find Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl with ice packs and (in Conner's case) bandages. Martha saw Logan and Streaky in the doorway and let them in. She left to let him have his turn to speak with the three of them. He walked up to Kara and gently rubbed her cheek with his hand. "I'm so sorry, Kara..." he quietly said.

"You really should say 'sorry' to Conner," said Superman, who was just sitting up. "In case you didn't notice, he received the worst damage from Grodd."

"I know, Clark. Really, you should be resting."

"What makes you think you can take that big gorilla down? In case you haven't noticed, he's got psychic abilities. The most resistant of us when it comes to those..."

"...is Conner. I know. I also realize that we can't read Grodd's mind, so we don't know what he's up to. Either way, Clark, you need to lie back down. I also brought Nate and his new recruit with me too."

"If he's got a new recruit, that's good. What's this new guy like?" asked Superman.

"Well, Clark...let's just say that Conner wouldn't like him very well," Logan answered, giving Superman an educated guess. The Man of Steel took Logan's advice and lied back down. He took one last look at the other two, silently promising to get a few hits in for each of them. _'I'll see you guys when I get back. And don't worry, Kara; I'm not going to let anything happen to Streaky,'_ he thought, pushing Kara's bangs out of her beautiful face.

* * *

Back in the living room, Ma and Pa Kent learned more about Nate and Jim John, including the fact that Superman's never visited their cave, but they got frequent visits from Hal Jordan, Earth's first Green Lantern. Needless to say, Nate was amazed at Clark's achievements both athletically and academically. They also saw trophies for Conner and Kara as well. "So your kids accomplished all of these feats? That's amazing!" Nate exclaimed, obviously excited that he learned something new about Smallville.

"You have no idea, sonny," Jonathan said, knowing that Nate had no idea who Clark really was. He saw Logan coming down the stairs with Streaky still on his shoulders. "How are the patients?"

"Still recovering from Grodd's attack," Logan said. "Superman did talk to me a little bit, but it was about something I already knew. I fought Grodd before, but he didn't use any psychic abilities on me. He never had the chance because of a Spyral agent."

"Well, I hope you, the Silver Lanterns, and Streaky put that monkey back in his cage and rescue Krypto," Martha said. "I don't know what we'd do without him."

"We'll rescue Krypto, Mrs. Kent. Don't you worry. It was nice meeting you both. Take care." As the four of them left out the door, a car arrived at the Kents' property. From the passenger's side came a freckled redhead wearing blue jeans, sneakers, a white T-shirt, and a brown button-up shirt. From the driver's side stepped out a beautiful, but familiar face. "Ms. Lane. Long time, no see," Logan said.

"Mr. Washburn," she greeted back. "I haven't seen you since you were helping Mr. Jordan at Ferris Aircraft. This is mine and Mr. Kent's assistant Jimmy Olsen. I never really got a chance to talk to you. Do you care to comment on what happened here?"

"Apologies, Ms. Lane, but can we do a different interview some other time? Somebody asked a favor of me and I need to get going. It is good to see you again." Logan then left to get to his motorcycle.

"Well, let me know when you're in Metropolis next time!"

"Deal!" After that, the Assassin took off on the motorcycle with Streaky in the bag again, helmet included.

* * *

Finally, the four of them went to where Grodd was at, trusting Logan's 'Spirit Sense' along the way. On the way there, Nate got curious enough to turn to Logan, who had a look of determination on his face. "Dude, I hate to break the moment of seriousness and determination, but who were those two people that showed up in the driveway?" he asked.

"There names are Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen!" Logan answered. "They're reporters for the _Daily Planet_ in Metropolis! As it just so happens, a lot of their reporting focuses on Superman! That was the first time I met Jimmy, but Lois and I met at Ferris Aircraft on the same day I met you! Hal I met the night before!"

"I see..." He then saw Logan push a few buttons on the motorcycle.

"Logan to the Batcave! Come in!" he exclaimed. Soon, an image of a familiar face popped up, one that Logan didn't expect to see. "Jason? What are you doing in the cave?"

_"I'm training the others in certain fields to help improve them while Batman's out. For Robin, it's teamwork; for Bluebird, it's her aim; and for Red Robin, it's his skill with weaponry. Although, it is a bit odd for me to use a Bo again."_

"Right...What about Shannon?"

_"She's working on her combat skills and teamwork with Robin. I'm going to guess you were trying to contact Batman?"_

"Yes! Tell him that I checked on Superman and his cousin and little brother! Now we're on our way to rescue Krypto from Grodd!"

_"So you're on a mission, huh? Well good luck. I'll relay the message to Batman."_

"Okay, thanks, Jason! And good luck with the training!" Jason nodded before the two of them hung up.

"So who was that?" Nate asked.

"His name is Jason Todd! He was the second Robin! Jason was brutally murdered by the Joker, but brought back to life by the Lazarus Pits belonging to Ra's al Ghul! Right now, he's training his comrades to help them out! Bluebird is one of them!"

"Is he one of those guys that you don't want to run into in a dark alley?"

"Yeah, if you piss him off! He's the Red Hood and he's well-known for using firearms, a crowbar, and a street fighting style! Now let's get to Grodd already!" With that, the Assassin sped up to Grodd's location, prompting Jim John and Nate to follow.

* * *

The four of them arrived at the spot where Logan sensed Grodd at. It was a wide-open space with few trees. In the field was a circle of Kryptonite with Krypto in the center. Nate and Jim John hid behind one tree while Logan (who had his hood on) and Streaky hid behind another that was near it. They did some observation before Nate got a smirk on his face. "It looks like no one's around," he said. "C'mon, Jim John." The two Silver Lanterns got started towards the Kryptonite circle.

"Dammit, Nate!" Logan hissed while Streaky pretty much thought the same thing. He 'Flash Stepped' in front of the Silver Lanterns to stop them. "Are you guys that stupid that you can't use your senses? This is obviously a..." Suddenly, something large landed behind Logan and Streaky, causing the heroes' to widen their eyes. "...trap." The Assassin slowly turned around and saw Grodd, whom he figured to still be angry about their last round. "Oh crap." With one punch, the psychic gorilla sent Logan, Nate, and Jim John flying a few feet back. Logan managed to get back up and wipe some blood off of his chin that came from his lip. "That didn't feel good when Ultra-Humanite punched me. This isn't any better."

"You're still a smart-alack, I see," Grodd said, cracking his knuckles.

"And you're still a dirty, stinking ape. No offense, Jim John." The remark caused Jim John to smell his pits, making him cringe. It also made Grodd mad, causing the gorilla menace to charge towards his opponents. Logan got ready to fight, but Jim John got in front and started wrestling with his fellow primate.

"We'll handle Grodd!" Nate exclaimed, charging towards the bad ape. "You just rescue Krypto!" Logan nodded and headed towards the dog with Streaky on his shoulder. Grodd kept punching Jim John repeatedly in the face, sending his opponent backwards. Nate got in front of the evil gorilla's face and hit him with a bat construct. He then formed his turret constructs and slugged Grodd in the face with them twice before sticking one in his chest. He fired the turrets and had him walking backwards. To finish the combo off, he flung the turrets towards the primate. They dissipated when they hit his head.

This only served to make him even more angry, so he charged at Nate, grabbed him before he could put up a shield, and pounded him into the ground. The sound of a motor reached his ears, so he looked and saw Jim John riding an ATV construct with his sunglasses on and a grin on his face. "What's this?" Grodd asked before moving out of the way. The Silver Lantern gorilla grabbed his comrade, put him on the back seat, and turned around. "It seams that you're more intelligent than I thought. Why you chose to be a Silver Lantern, I don't know. It makes no difference to me, though." He pushed a button on his helmet to try and gain control of his fellow gorilla, but found that it wasn't working.

Nate and Jim John were as confused as Grodd until they remembered Nate's combo also hit the helmet. This angered the psychic ape, but Jim John charged for him on the ATV, beating his own chest while he was at it. The Silver Lantern grinned and popped a wheelie, slamming Grodd and making him fall back down. To add insult to injury, Jim John revved up the engine and left some skid marks on their knocked-out foe. The ATV dissipated and Jim John beat his chest in a victory dance. "Um...nice work, Jim John," Nate said.

In the meantime, Logan had cleared away all the Kryptonite. He picked up Krypto to take him back home. "There you go, Krypto," he said with a caring smile. "Let's get you back to Kal-El." Krypto let out some whimpers, alerting Logan to a ship that was approaching. Knowing that his new friend was wondering about it, he let out some small growls towards it. "'Mechanikat'? Who's that?" As the ship opened, a feline alien walked out of it. He was more machine than cat, however, as his torso, arms, legs, tail, and left eye were completely mechanical. Logan set Krypto on the ground and got ready to face this new foe.

"I thought Grodd assured me that there would be no trouble," the evil robot said, glaring at Logan and the others.

"You must be Mechanikat. Krypto told me about you."

"Ah, so you can talk to animals, eh?" Krypto growled at Mechanikat, ready to take him down. "Still as feisty as ever, Krypto? That's good. It'll be more than enjoyable to finally put you down." Mechanikat pushed a button on wrist, transforming his ship into a purple-and-black robot with a pilot seat. It was a giant cat head with a tail, mechanical arms and legs, and a spiked metal tail. Mechanikat hopped into the seat and took the controls.

"Great... As if I don't have enough problems with robots." Krypto barked in agreement. "Streaky, get ready." Mechanikat had the robot lift its right arm up to smash all three of them, but Logan grabbed Krypto and 'Flash Stepped' out of the way with him and Streaky. They rejoined Nate and Jim John and saw what the latter did to Grodd. "Too bad we can't do that to that thing," he said, getting a nod from the others. Logan sat down Indian-style to figure things out, getting Krypto, Streaky, and Jim John to join him.

"Oh come on!" Nate exclaimed.

"Shut it, Nate! We're trying to think!" Logan knew 'Chidori' wouldn't work on that machine like it would Mechanikat, mainly because the metal he used was lightning-proof. He looked over at Grodd and saw the tire marks left by Jim John's ATV and got an idea. "You guys hold Mechanikat off! I'll start up the bike!" The idea left them confused, but they went through with it. While Krypto and Streaky fired their 'Heat Visions' at the robot, Jim John formed himself into a ball as Nate made a cannon construct. The Silver Lantern opened fire and sent his comrade hurdling towards the machine at maximum force. Nate hurried and formed a giant boot construct on his foot, planting it on the robot.

Mechanikat retaliated by swatting the four of them away. He then activated the weapons systems and fired lasers at them. Nate formed a shield and blocked the lasers, knowing that Mechanikat knew Krypto and Streaky's weakness was powering them. He looked behind him and saw Logan appear on his motorcycle with the guns active. "Now I know what he's got planned," he said. Logan pushed a button on the handlebars and fired the guns at the robot. What came out of it were black-and-white beams as opposed to bullets, signifying that it was set in a special mode. The robot fell over and Mechanikat fell out of it.

"I don't know how he did it with that one shot, but he is going to pay for that!" he exclaimed before Krypto tackled him to the robot. "Did someone get the number on that freighter?" he asked before passing out, getting Logan to smirk.

* * *

A while later, the group headed back to Smallville. They were relieved to find that Lois and Jimmy were gone, which meant no interviews for them. Logan knocked on the door and was greeted by Jonathan. He looked down and saw the family's dog. "Krypto! It's good to see that you're alright!" he exclaimed. The dog looked and saw that his owner was healthy again, as was Conner.

"Where's Kara?" Logan asked.

"She's upstairs waiting for you and Streaky," Clark answered, getting a smile and a nod from Logan.

He went upstairs and saw the blonde Kryptonian sitting on a bed with her knees bent and a worried look on her face. Streaky jumped off of Logan's shoulder and onto the bed, which alerted her to their presence. Ecstatic, she jumped up and greeted Logan with a hug, wrapping her legs around his waist. "I missed you both so much," she whispered in his ear as tears of joy came out of her eyes.

"We missed you too, Kara," said Logan. "It would've been easier with you around."

"The next time you feel like putting your life in danger for a good time..." she began before kissing him on the mouth. This came as a shock to the Assassin since Kara normally kissed him on the cheek as a way of friendly flirting. He responded in kind, however, not one to break a girl's heart. She broke the kiss after a couple of minutes and looked at him with love in her eyes. "...call me."

"Will do." They kissed each other one last time before he left with Nate and Jim John, but not without petting Streaky and Krypto. After they left, Kara got a flirtatious smirk on her face.

"We really should do that again someday," she said to herself.

* * *

As Logan parted ways with Nate and Jim John, he put in a call to the Batcave, hoping to reach Batman this time. As luck would have it, he answered this time. _"Logan,"_ Batman greeted. _"How did the mission go?"__  
_

"So Jason did relay the message?" Logan asked. "The mission went fine, Bats! Nate, his new buddy, and I helped Krypto and Streaky take down an enemy of theirs named Mechanikat! That new buddy of Nate's also knocked out Grodd!"

_"The new buddy. It's the gorilla Jim John, isn't it?"_ Logan had a surprised look on his face, getting a rare smirk from the Dark Knight. _"We had reports of an escaped gorilla that was mostly harmless. Now we know what happened with him."_

"Is Jim John not being in a zoo that bad?"

_"So far, there's no damage. He can stay with the Silver Lanterns as long as someone keeps an eye on him and he's doing the right thing."_

_'Why do I get the feeling that Jakar is going to wind up being responsible for him,'_ Logan thought. "Hey, how are Bluebird and Shannon doing?"

_"They're doing just fine. They can't wait to go on another mission with you."_

"And Barbara?"

_"Still frustrated at Dick and the fact that Jason took over the coaching job."_ Logan noted the smirk on Batman's face, figuring him to have a good day.

"Well, at any case, Bats, I'll talk to you later! Tell the others I said 'Hi'!" Batman nodded before they hung up. This left Logan to think about the eagerness that the Dark Knight had mentioned from Shannon and Bluebird as well as the kiss from Supergirl. _'I hope I don't have to deal with any romantic rivalries. I hate to do it, but I'll have to tell Cammy about that kiss.'_

CHAPTER 33 END

* * *

**Alright, that was Chapter 33. I figured I might do a little homage to _Krypto the Superdog_ with this one. It was far from my favorite DC series (That honor goes to _Batman: The Animated Series_), but it deserves some recognition. I also wanted another chance to touch up on the relationship between Logan and Supergirl as well as use Superboy. I'll see you guys next time.**


	34. Dangerous Interest!

**Here's a chapter that just came to mind. Since I haven't had the opportunity to use Shannon much, I figured that this could be a good opportunity to introduce two characters: One who wants to know her extremely well, and a flirtatious cousin of hers who fills the 'Neko-mimi'/'Cat-girl' role. I'm also using a _Final Fight_ character that I haven't used since 'World Warrior Tournament' (It's not Haggar, Guy, Maki, or Carlos, so you should be able to figure out which protagonist it is). As for the villain****, a certain somebody came up with a villainous Silver Lantern, so Nate and his crew will be in it as well. Chances are, thanks to both Robin and the _Final Fight _character, he won't keep his ring.**

* * *

**Dangerous Interest!**

At the Silver Lantern cave, Jakar got up early. He was doing his morning exercises, a routine he always did in his time. These started with push-ups and ended with upside-down crunches, where he would tie his ankles to a rope that hung from the ceiling in his room. His old mentor, Sir Ryland, had taught him this as a way to keep his focus. Now that he had a place to stay again, even if it wasn't with his ancestor, he had a semblance of peace with this.

He got his exercises done and exited his room fully dressed. He saw Jim John sleeping in a hammock he made and shook his head. "Must be some strong rope," he muttered to himself. As Jim John continued to sleep, Jakar made his way to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee. When he got a cup down and grabbed the handle of the coffee pot, another hand grabbed it as well. He looked and saw that it was Sharel, who had a glare on her face. "Do you mind? I'm trying to get some coffee here."

"Well so am I," she said back. "I only had 3 cups."

"That's more than enough."

"Yeah, for a normal person. In case you haven't figured out, I'm not normal by this world's standards." It was at this point that the two of them started a tug-of-war for the coffee pot.

"Well, start...drinking...your...coffee...like a...normal...person!"

"I'm telling you, I need at least four cups of coffee every morning!"

"That's the whole damn pot! It's no wonder we buy more coffee than we need to!" As the tug-of-war continued, it got to the point where Sharel put her hand on his face while he had his boot on hers. Nate came in to see what the commotion was all about. "I'm telling you...I...need...this...cup...of...coffee!"

"Will you two give it a rest?" Nate asked in futility. The coffee pot slipped from both of their hands and landed on Nate's head, causing him to cry out in pain as the coffee itself spilled on him. "That burned!" He then got angry at the two of them. "That does it! Ever since Jakar's been living with us, there's been nothing but arguing between you two! Now, until you learn to get along, I want you both out of here!"

"But...what are we supposed to do?" Sharel asked.

"How about you two get away from each other and away from here until you've calmed down. Jakar, why don't you see if your ancestor can train you?"

"I'll try," Jakar said, obviously nervous when it came to Logan.

"And Sharel," Nate said. "Why don't you do what you usually do?"

"Got it," she said, dejected by Nate yelling at her. The two of them left for their respective destinations while Nate got a towel and cleaned himself off.

He turned around as they left the cave and saw Jim John getting up and about to leave. "No, Jim John. You're alright." This got the gorilla to get back in his hammock and sleep. Nate got a little curious about his ring as usual. The same went with the Power Battery. When he stuck his hand inside the battery, several lines came out of it and lit up the cave. When he took his hand out of the battery, his ring was off, but he was still in his SL outfit. "Amazing. What is this?" he asked himself, forgetting that Mr. Grey could hear him.

_"Why don't you look at the map, sir?" _Grey suggested.

"You know I keep forgetting that you're there, right?" He then looked at their spot and saw that he and Jim John were the only two Silver Lanterns in the cave. "Sharel's out in the city alright." He saw a ring that was on the move. "Okay, that's weird. I don't recall sending any out." He then saw that it was heading to the East Coast in a straight line...one specific city to be exact. "That ring's heading for Gotham."

* * *

At Gotham City, the weather was nice and sunny, but without it being too warm. It was a new year, which of course meant new students at Gotham City High School. The students all got acquainted there, but some of the popular girls warned new friends of theirs about a certain 17-year-old street brawler. Shannon recently had a birthday that she celebrated with the Waynes and her friends. Luckily, Red Robin handled the crime fighting in the process.

Right now, Shannon was disgruntled. It wasn't because of the usual gossip among the popular kids; she could shut them up with one glare, much like Damian. Instead, it was for a number of other reasons. However, since she was in a bad mood, she knew that she couldn't brush the comments off like a speck of dust. "...and from what I hear, she gets frustrated very easily," one girl said.

"I heard that too," said another girl. Shannon knew who it was given the 'valley girl' accent. It was a blonde girl around her age wearing a miniskirt, black leggings, and Mary Jane Shoes. The shirt was what looked like a fashionable v-neck shirt that had a letterman's jacket on with the school colors on it. "Maybe she needs to get laid."

"Says the biggest whore in the school," Shannon said, barely restraining her temper as she slammed her locker shut. "How many guys are you going to take to bed this year, Courtney?"

"Touché, Shannon. Maybe it's that attitude that's keeping men from asking you out on a date. That could be why you're so temperamental. Should I set you up?"

"Do it and I'll measure you for a coffin." This threat made Courtney turn blue and leave, not noticing the smirk on Shannon's face. She went to her homeroom class, but was stopped by one of the new students. "What do you want? I'm trying to get to class."

"Umm...sorry. My name's Verin Toplist. I just got a job at the school paper. I was wondering if I could get an interview with you, Ms. Youngblood?" Verin asked, unknowingly letting Shannon pick up a hint of nervousness.

"Maybe later, Verin...when I'm in a much better mood." Suddenly, the two teenagers heard some commotion going on a little further down the hall. It was a good thing Shannon didn't need Logan's 'Spirit Sense' or Batman's detective skills to know why.

"What's going on over there?"

"The reason for my bad day," Shannon answered, pinching the bridge of her nose. Out from the crowd stepped a strange looking blonde girl around Damian's age. She had unusual traits, which included cat ears and a tail. She had blonde hair and wore a white blouse, gray skirt, and white stockings. "Hey, Felicity," Shannon greeted with disdain.

"Heya, Shannon," Felicity greeted back. "What's going on?"

"I was having a good time until _you _showed up."

"Aww! Don't be like that, especially since I'll be living with you from now on."

"Yeah, don't remind me..." Shannon saw what time it was and decided to head to class. When she got there, she saw Damian sitting bored. She smirked, knowing that her favorite Robin couldn't wait until Gym Class. Of course, she couldn't blame him; it was the one class where they got to hang out with DeMarcus and Mei-Ling. On top of that, it was also the one class that Damian could push himself without revealing his identity as the Boy Wonder.

Shannon knew that she could take this opportunity to sneak up on Damian and he not notice. She got behind him, grabbed him in a headlock, and gave him a noogie. It took Damian by surprise, but he couldn't do anything about it. While there were students who were concerned, the ones that have seen the two interact knew that they had a 'brother-sister' relationship. "Well, that certainly brightened my day," she said, getting a chuckle from the young Wayne.

"Bad day?" Damian asked. He saw her mood turn sour, so he looked and saw the Cat-girl coming through the door.

"Yep. And it's going to be a bad year, too."

"I'm going to guess that that's your cousin that you mentioned?"

"Great deduction. You should be a detective." As Damian noted the sarcastic tone in Shannon's voice, he decided against payback for now. Felicity saw her cousin and her friend sitting in the back, so she walked up to them, still unaware of Shannon's disdain for her. "Get lost, Felicity."

"Um...Sorry, Shannon. I can't," said the blonde. "We have the same homeroom. And apparently, I'm not the only one my age who skipped a few grades. So who's your handsome friend?"

"My name's Damian," said the only boy of the three.

"'Damian'? That's a nice name. Come to think of it, you look a lot like Bruce Wayne."

"We've been told he favors him," Shannon said. She then looked and saw that Verin was also part of the class. "Not him again."

"Who?" Damian asked before seeing the new presence in the room. "Who is that and what is he doing?"

"He's a new student who claims to be a part of the school paper."

"Uh-oh," Felicity said. "If you have any secrets, you better air them out now."

"That's just it, Felicity. We don't have a school paper."

"Maybe he's starting one up?" This earned a glare from the older cousin.

"Excuse us a minute. Damian and I have to have a talk," said Shannon, who grabbed her frequent teammate by the arm. Once they got to the hall and a slight distance from the classroom, Shannon decided to start. "We've got two problems, Damian."

"I know. You're worried about Verin, right?" Damian asked.

"That's one. The other is Felicity. Those ears and tail aren't just for show; she's a real-life Neko, or Cat-girl if you will. This means that she's got traits similar to a cat and that includes their sense of smell. If she picks up your scent, then you can kiss your life as Robin goodbye."

"Sounds like I need to start wearing cologne."

"You're patrolling the streets, not going to a formal. Cologne will be a dead giveaway for when you're trying to sneak up on crooks, especially Killer Croc. You need to find something else that'll throw Felicity off your trail and fast. Ask your dad or Alfred or even Dick if you have to." This got her a quick nod from the current Robin and got him thinking about a plan. Damian knew that it wasn't going to be easy, though, especially when a cat's sense of smell was keen enough to pick up someone's secret identity.

* * *

A while later, the two teenagers got with DeMarcus and Mei-Ling at the Weight Room for Gym Class. Unfortunately for Shannon and Damian, Verin was in the class as well. The guy was getting on her nerves just by being around. While Damian and Mei-Ling were doing the Circuit Training-Damian had to slow down so Mei-Ling could keep up-Shannon and DeMarcus were on the Free Weights, more specifically, the Squat Rack. "Are you sure you can do this, Shannon?" DeMarcus asked. "I know you're tough, and I know you train every day, but even I have a hard time with this weight." The barbell in question, which Shannon was going to lift, had a 45 lb. weight and a 35 lb. weight on each side. Add in the fact that the barbell itself weight 45 lbs. and that's a total of 205 lbs.

"I'll be fine, DeMarcus," she responded. "And don't play yourself off as weak just for my sake; you've lifted much heavier than this with ease. This is just enough to help keep me toned up and not too bulky." DeMarcus nodded as she lifted the barbell up with her shoulders.

"Wow!" said the annoying voice of Verin as Shannon did her set. "What big weights you've got."

"All the better to kick your ass if you don't stop pissing me off!" This got the 'reporter' to back away, getting the hint on what she was going to do to him.

"Damian, I'm concerned about Shannon," Mei-Ling said, having watched the scene with her crush. "This very well could affect her blood pressure."

"You and I have the same concerns," said the young Wayne as they walked up to DeMarcus and Shannon. "Shannon..." This almost proved to be a mistake since the 17-year-old wheeled around and almost punched her best friend in the eye. The normally-stoic Damian was scared, as was Mei-Ling.

"Sorry, guys. I didn't know it was you," she said.

"That's understandable. You're not just pissed; you're paranoid," DeMarcus explained. "Wait right here. I'm going to do something about that." The two crime fighters knew what he was going to do, but Damian had to explain it to Mei-Ling.

"Okay, let's see here...'Cute, but strong'...'Has a nasty temper'..." Verin said to himself.

"'And extremely paranoid.' You were going to put that, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I was." It was then that the phony 'reporter' looked behind him and saw DeMarcus glaring at him. "Is there something I can help you with? Maybe get you a protein shake? Not that you or Shannon need one, but the younger two just might."

"Shannon is who I'm here to talk about, punk. She's worked up because of _you_. If you don't mind having a broken nose and a black eye, keep it up. I'll be more than happy to supply both." This got Verin to sweat nervously since he's seen first hand how much DeMarcus can bench press. However, it wouldn't total deter him; instead, he decided he'd have to be more discreet. What he didn't know was that Robin was among the group.

Soon, it was lunch time, which only proved to be a bigger headache for Shannon due to the popular girls, Felicity, and Verin, a situation that she didn't have to deal with at any other time. Damian, Mei-Ling, and DeMarcus kept an eye on her, but let her have her space. After all, it was rare to see Shannon as on edge as she is right now. She knew that Damian and the others were only looking out for her, which she was grateful for, but she felt that she needed to be alone.

Sadly for her, that alone time was interrupted, as a shadow loomed over her. She looked up and, to her dismay, Courtney was standing in front of her with a concerned look. "What do you want now? Can't you see I want to be left alone right now?" she asked, a vein appearing on her temple and her fist.

"Uh-oh," Mei-Ling said, getting Damian and DeMarcus to agree with her.

"Look, I know we don't get along well," Courtney began. "But I have something that you might be interested in. It's about your stalker."

"You've got five minutes to tell me before I really get mad," said Shannon, the information obviously catching her attention. This frightened Courtney, as she was reminded of Shannon's legendary temper.

"Okay, here's the lowdown on Verin Toplist: He's been known around Metropolis, Brooklyn, and Boston for getting kicked out of schools in each of those cities. His usual cover-up is that of a news reporter for the school paper, but he's been kicked out for excessive stalking, most often peeking into the girls' locker room. Normally, the disguise works, except..."

"Except that his cover's been blown because the school doesn't have a paper."

"That's right. I know he's been getting under your skin, Shannon, and I'm sorry. But you've got friends and family that'll drop everything to help you. Damian, Mei-Ling, DeMarcus, your mom, and even Coach Grant. I envy you. Heck, I bet even your cousin would help you no matter how much you want to push her away." This shook Shannon to the core, as she's never known Courtney to be supportive of her.

Shannon knew, however, that there was another friend that Courtney didn't know about. "Thanks. You know, this is the first time you actually surprised me. Maybe there's hope for you yet." It was then that Courtney saw Shannon crack a small smile as the two shook hands, finding a new respect for one another. As soon as Courtney left to rejoin her group, Shannon turned to hers, who were glad that she resolved at least one of her issues. She had a thought on her head, though: _'I'm going to have to call Logan when I get home.'_

* * *

A while later, Damian was back home, having brought Mei-Ling with him on Bruce's orders. Due to explaining what Shannon told him about Felicity, the young Wayne was told to bring the only member of his crew who was unaware of Damian's secret to the Cave. Alfred greeted Damian with his usual look. "Welcome home, Master Damian," said the butler. "I see you brought your friend as well."

"I offered DeMarcus a chance to come, if only for Mei-Ling's security, but he declined," Damian said as Mei-Ling greeted Alfred with a bow.

"At any rate, Master Bruce is waiting for you." Damian acknowledged Alfred's statement with a nod as he guided Mei-Ling to the grandfather clock. "Now I hope you're ready, Ms. Mei-Ling," Alfred said. "Master Bruce is through here."

"I am ready, Mr. Pennyworth," said the girl.

"At least _one_ of your crew has manners, Master Damian." Damian just crossed his arms and pouted at the butler's remark, getting the old man to chuckle as he pulled on one of the strings in the clock. The wall behind the clock opened up and revealed a stairwell. "Now proceed. I have to make dinner."

"What's on the menu?" asked Damian.

"Chicken Cordon Bleu with a side of Green Beans, Broccoli, and Cauliflower. Cheese will be on the latter two."

"That sounds delicious," Mei-Ling said.

"Alfred's cooking always is." The two friends proceeded downstairs. Damian noted that Mei-Ling was getting scared, so he held onto her shoulders and smiled, giving her a form of reassurance. They got a bit further down with the young Wayne holding her hand to guide her. "Before we continue, Mei-Ling, I want you to promise me that you'll try not to faint."

"I'll try not to. No guarantees, though," she said as Damian pushed against a hand scanner. A door opened and Mei-Ling got the biggest shock in her life. "Damian, what is this?"

"Welcome to the Bat Cave," a voice said. She looked at the main platform and saw Batman at the computer. She also saw the display cases, including the Robin costumes worn by Dick, Jason, and Tim, as well as the current one. She was able to put two and two together. Batman could see it on her face. "You're a smart girl, Mei-Ling. You'll make a good detective."

"I had my suspicions for a while now, but this confirms it." She then turned to her crush. "Damian, you're the current Robin, aren't you?" He confirmed with a nod. "And Batman?"

"Consider it a family business...a large family," the Dark Knight said, taking off his mask and revealing his face. The shock of finding out about Bruce Wayne and Batman being the same person were enough to get Mei-Ling to find out who Nightwing and Red Robin were. "Then you also know that Dick Grayson was Nightwing and Tim Drake is Red Robin."

"But what about the others? Batgirl? Red Hood? Bluebird?"

"Babs, Jason Todd, and Harper Row," Damian answered.

"And DeMarcus knows?"

"So does Shannon."

"Speaking of Shannon, I gave her the night off on account of Verin. She informed me about his stalker tendencies in three other cities. As it turns out, he has a hatred of Superboy for planting him into the wall for trying to snap a picture of Megan Morse undressing in Metropolis."

"Now _that's _funnier than the Joker's pranks."

"I just hope Shannon's okay," said Mei-Ling.

"She's a big girl. She can handle herself," a female voice said. The two younger ones turned around and saw Bluebird cleaning her guns. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mei-Ling." The guest bowed in respect.

* * *

At the Youngblood house, Shannon was drawing a bubble bath as opposed to taking a shower. This was because she needed to relax. She felt that her home was the safest place she could be without being at the Wayne's mansion. She took off her clothes and dipped a toe into the water, finding it to be at the most comfortable temperature. She brought her phone with her as well so she could call Logan like she planned.

Over the short amount of time she's known him, Shannon's started to develop a crush on the older vigilante. Because they saw each other as kindred spirits when it came to their fathers, she had no problems with Logan's reputation with women, even though he tries to stay loyal to Cammy. It made her a little jealous of the British soldier, but at least the 17-year-old knew he wouldn't sleep with a hooker. She knew she would shock her older friend when he answered. Soon, the video came up and showed his face. _"Hey, Shannon..."_ he greeted before covering his eyes, noticing that she was in the nude. It made her giggle a little at how he was respectful.

"Oh there's no need for you to be respectful, Logan," she said, firing a flirting look at him. "With how many times you've done the deed with Cammy and Chun-Li, you ought to be used to seeing a naked girl."

_"Yeah, but you're still seventeen. You've got a beautiful body, but it's still developing."_

"Glad you remembered my age. Seriously though, I'd be surprised if you didn't lure Juni into the mating grounds, you dirty animal."

_"Only with consent would I take a girl. That's why I got Chun-Li and Cammy both."_

"Because they both love and lust after you. If they were succubi, they'd probably want a threesome with you more than your soul." Shannon smirked, knowing that she got her older ladies' man of a friend to blush hard. "But I really did need to talk to you, Logan. You're my therapist after all."

_"About what?"_

* * *

Meanwhile, throughout Gotham, the ring that escaped from Nate's sights while he was arguing with Jakar and Sharel made its way through the city, searching for the perfect host. As it looked around, a plane was also arriving in Gotham airspace. When the wheels were let out, a familiar figure was hanging on to one of the legs. He was in great shape, but wearing a pair of cuffs on his wrists, an orange jumpsuit with the top at his waist, a white T-shirt, and a pair of Reeboks. The man had blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble on his chin. "So this is where she and her family are living?" he said. "Note to self: Cody, when you get the chance, better help them move." He saw the ring and figured out a new Silver Lantern was about to be picked. This didn't make Cody feel any easier for a reason he couldn't place.

* * *

As the ring searched for its new wielder, it saw Verin nearing Shannon's house. Thinking he was curious about something, it approached him. The boy saw it and immediately put two-and-two together. He was going to be the next Silver Lantern. He reached his hand out so that the ring would attach itself to him, but it wouldn't. "You want me to do one of two things to make me worthy of you, don't you?" he asked. The ring blinked, affirming that he was right. "Okay, how about the one that's not a big time-waster? Let's see if I can remember this right from the audio I heard:

'In Dreary Day, In Greyest Night,  
Everything is interesting in my sight,  
Knowledge will aid me in my fight,  
With my power, Curiosity's Light!'"

The motto said, the ring attached itself to Verin's right middle finger, ready to see what it would do without the knowledge that Nate was on his way to Gotham as well.

* * *

"...I'm telling you, Logan, I could use some time with you. If you could help me in any way possible, it would be great because Toplist is really getting on my nerves," Shannon said, the conversation continuing with Logan listening intently.

_"What kind of person is he?"_ Logan said. _"You said that he was a stalker of sorts."_

"He's the kind who will dig through your garbage can if you let it go unguarded long enough. I thank God I don't keep a diary or I'll really be embarrassed."

_"That's not good."_ Logan's statement caught the teenager's attention, neither one of them aware of the miniature drone appearing in the bathroom window. _"Nate's actually on his way to Gotham now. One of his Silver Lantern rings is there right now. Since Batman won't be interested, my guess is that it would go after Verin. I'm sorry I can't go there right now, but I'm starting Cloak's training tomorrow and Juni, Alex, Kisuke, and Yoruichi are going to be here to help. At least you'll have your cousin to help out."_

"Please, Felicity's a pain in the ass herself. Besides, she doesn't know how to fight like me and the Bats."

_"It's not Felicity I'm talking about."_ Shannon cocked her eyebrow, confused as to who he meant. _"You'll know who I mean in a little while. Oh, and Shannon,"_ he said, getting her to look at him. _"You might want to sleep with clothes on tonight. If this bastard's some kind of pervert, he won't be able to get that good of a view if you do."_

"Thank you. If push comes to shove, do you think you could have me soon?" she asked. "As a guest, of course."

_"Yeah. Sure thing. Goodnight."_

"Goodnight." After that, they hung up and she got out of the tub, having washed herself while talking to Logan. She let the water out and dried off before putting on her pajamas. After saying 'Goodnight' to her Sarah, Isaac, and Felicity, she went to her bed. Unlike before, she kept her pajamas on, unaware that Verin was at the house.

* * *

Outside of the window, Verin was wrapping his head around the conversation he heard. It was bugging him now, especially since he felt unnerved. "Okay, so she talks to someone on video chat while taking a bath," he said to himself. "The question is, who? Some kind of boyfriend?"

"The answer is 'none of your business'," said a voice. He looked and saw the sole of a boot before being clocked in the face and sent out into the street. As he got up and his vision cleared, he saw Red Robin with his bo staff in hand. "Now I have a question: What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's a personal research subject." With that, he fired a blast at the vigilante, who opened the bullet shield on his bo to block it and surge forward. As he got close to Verin, Red Robin tripped him up, cutting off his blast. After that, he put the end of the staff on Verin's face, applying pressure as well.

"So Nate chose you to be the next Silver Lantern? He might want to do his research next time."

"I had to have been picked for a reason." With that, Verin blasted the third Boy Wonder off of him and got back up. He took to the sky, but was unaware of Tim's jet pack. "Smart alack."

"Robins have to fly," said Red Robin, with a smirk on his face. "You, on the other hand, need to be grounded!" He brought the bo onto Verin, but he blocked it with a shield. "For someone who hasn't had any training with that thing, you sure are proficient with it, even if it is something like a shield."

"Come to think of it, aren't I the first Silver Lantern you met?"

"Yeah, you are. Why?"

"You're actually the first member of the Bat Family I met, Red Robin. I'm honored, even if it is just the third Robin!" He surged his shield to get Red Robin off of him as the two got back to the ground. "You still don't hold a candle to the original."

_'Now I know that it was the _ring_ that picked him, not Nate,'_ the vigilante thought as his cape came back. Verin fired another beam at him, prompting Red Robin to put up the bullet shield again. As he was focused on the one beam, he didn't know about the other beams that went behind him and hit him from behind to knock him down. Verin jumped up, formed a sledgehammer construct, and knocked him out with it.

"Well that was a pain," Verin said to himself. "I didn't think I'd have this much trouble fighting a Robin that wasn't the original. Now, where was I? Oh yes, now I remember." He flew back to Shannon's window, seeing the small crack there. He peered in and saw his target sleeping. "Isn't that cute? She looks even better when she's asleep." He opened the window and used his ring to grab her from her bed, remembering to cover her mouth up. "Now to find somewhere private." With that, he flew off with Shannon to the main city of Gotham, leaving behind a knocked out Red Robin.

* * *

After a while, Tim's vision was starting to clear as he started to hear a familiar voice. He saw four familiar faces as he took in his surroundings: Batman, Robin, Bluebird, and Dick, who just got back from Spyral. "Tim? Tim, what happened?" he asked. Tim cleared his head as his older 'brother'/mentor stood him back up. Batman, Robin, and Bluebird gave him room to steady him. He then remembered what happened.

"GRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!" he shouted, slamming his bo into the ground. "Dammit!"

"What happened?" Batman asked.

"Verin Toplist happened!"

"He smacked you around and did this?" Damian asked, gesturing to the damage done in the neighborhood before snickering. "Either you're the most convincing liar I've ever met, or you're that weak!"

"Zip it, runt! He's a Silver Lantern now!" The revelation shocked the other four bats, including Dick, who has heard of them while on his secret mission.

"Sounds to me like Alfred and I better get to working on a new suit," Dick said.

"Same identity?" asked Batman, getting Tim and Damian to look to their 'big brother', who had a nod to give to the Dark Knight. "Then Harper and I will take you back to the cave. Robin, Red Robin."

"Right, Father," said Damian. They went to chase after Verin, hoping Shannon was alright.

* * *

The streets of Gotham were definitely far from the safest, especially at night. With the crime rate in the underground being a huge pain in Shannon, Damian, and Jason's necks, it's no wonder they have trouble there. Shannon knew first-hand how the Underground was, but never expected to wind up captured in it. Verin, due to his interest in her, placed her gently on the ground, not wanting to hurt her. "Have a nice trip, Shannon?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"That depends on your definition of 'nice'," she said bitterly, angry and humiliated at having been captured by someone she could easily thrash if not for the ring. "For me, it wasn't. No popcorn and no movie? What kind of plane are you running here?"

"Funny. Now, there's another difference between the two of us." Shannon quirked an eyebrow as he explained further. "At least I managed to beat one of Batman's sidekicks. Albeit, it was Red Robin, it's still an accomplishment." The teenage crime fighter inwardly cursed, knowing that she hasn't even beaten Harper or Damian, much less stood a chance against Jason.

"You know that the Bats are on their way here, right? You might as well let me go and get home if you don't want the Red Hood gunning you down."

"The only one of the Robins I feel a need to worry about is the original. Last I checked, Nightwing hasn't been here in a long time." Shannon noted the cocky tone he took since he revealed that he didn't feel threatened by Jason's codename.

"If that's the case, you better be thankful he isn't!" a familiar voice shouted. They looked and saw Robin and Red Robin, the former with his hood up. "I suggest you let her go!" Robin ordered.

"So the rumors are true: The Fourth Boy Blunder is back!" Verin stated. "So where's the Big Bad Bat?"

"Really hate that nickname..."

"Sorry to disappoint!" Red Robin exclaimed. "But I believe it's time for Round 2!" After Verin signaled that they had the first move, Robin pulled out his sword while Red Robin used the bo. The older Robin knew to stay on the ground due to needing the bullet shield, which he kicked in once Verin fired a blast at him. Robin jumped up and threw three shurikens at their foe, forcing him to put up a shield and cutting off the blast. Red Robin dashed towards the rogue Silver Lantern in an attempt to get a close range attack on him, slamming the shield at full strength. Robin followed with a hard slash of his sword, but neither attack was able to get through. He surged the shield and sent the two Robins backwards, blasting them while they were still in the air to knock them out.

"Too easy," Verin said in a bored tone. "You put up a better fight in our last round, Red Robin."

"Why don't you try facing someone who knows how to fight on the streets," a voice said. Verin and Shannon looked and saw Cody approaching. However, neither one recognized him. "If I can handle fighting on Metro City's streets, Gotham shouldn't be too hard. I'm amazed I managed to avoid the cops."

"I just beat two Robins, even though they're not near as skilled as the original. What makes you think _you _stand a chance?" The answer from Cody was the removal of his handcuffs. "What are you doing?"

"There are only two occasions where I would remove the cuffs: 1)If the fight's really interesting; or 2) If something happened that _really _pissed me off. Since you kidnapped my cousin, guess which one it was."

"'Cousin'?"

_'Did he just say 'cousin'?' _Shannon thought. Logan's meaning was starting to become more clear to her; The cousin he was talking about wasn't _Felicity _Travers, but _Cody _Travers. _'This man...Logan knew he was heading here from Metro City. Now I know he knows my family like Mr. Wayne does.'_

"That's right," Cody said. "Now you're going to pay for it!" Now Verin wasn't so cocky. In blind fear, he attacked Cody with a baseball bat construct, which he dodged twice before countering with several hard punches. "Criminal Upper!" he exclaimed. The resulting tornado was more powerful than usual due to the cuffs being removed. It was enough to break Shannon out of her binds. She watched as Cody cracked his knuckles, ready to pull off another assault. This time, he went on the offensive as Verin put up a shield to block it. The commotion was enough to wake up the Robins, who saw Shannon running up to them.

"Shannon, are you okay?" Damian asked.

"I'm fine," said Shannon. "Thanks to him." They looked down and saw Cody punching at the shield repeatedly.

"You got saved by an escaped convict?"

"That's no ordinary convict," Red Robin explained. "That's Metro City's fallen hero. Cody Travers. The question is, why is he here?"

"He's my cousin," Shannon's revelation shocked the two of them. "I just found out now thanks to him, but Logan knew this whole time."

"It must be because of Metro City's other two heroes: the Bushin-Ryu Ninpo master Guy, and that city's mayor Mike Haggar." Shannon heard what Tim was saying, but was more focused on the fight. They saw that Cody was repeatedly punching the shield that Verin had put up. They could tell that he was extremely frustrated, both at Verin and at the shield. "There's no way he can get through it by simply punching. We tried it with all our might and we couldn't even make a dent in it.

"Wait, guys," Shannon said, pointing out the spot where Cody was punching. They saw cracks where the punches were making impact. They were spreading on the shield, showing that it was being weakened from each punch Cody threw. One final cross destroyed the shield and gave the street fighter the opportunity he needed. He repeatedly punched Verin, with one last one sending him up. He then grabbed a tire iron and slammed him into the wall with it. Verin landed on the ground with a thud, groaning as he was trying to recover from the beating. He yelled out in pain as he felt a shoe on his hand.

The yelling continued as Cody twisted his foot on Verin's hand. Eventually, the silver glow stopped, prompting the curiosity of the others. Once Cody removed his foot, they saw that the intent was to destroy the ring, which is what he did. "From what I hear, Silver Lanterns are supposed to use the knowledge they gain with their Curiosity for good," Cody said, lecturing his defeated foe. "You're no Silver Lantern. You're just out for you." Cody then looked up and saw Nate with a horrified look on his face. Shannon and the Robins saw him too, but they thought he'd be horrified at the ring being smashed. "Friend of yours?"

"Nope," Nate answered. "I don't even know him. I heard yelling, so I thought it was someone in trouble. I was partially right; I didn't expect it'd be a rogue Silver Lantern." Nate then revealed another ability: Using his ability, he pieced together the ring. He placed it into the Power Battery, which repaired it right away. "I never thought he'd use his Curiosity for dirty views."

"You never know with people. Now, keep your eye on your jewelry. You don't want a repeat." Nate nodded in confirmation as the other onlookers appeared. "Are you alright, cousin?"

"Yes, Cody, I am," Shannon said in relief.

"Wait, are you Shannon Youngblood?" Nate asked, getting a nod from said girl. "Logan told me about you. According to him, you're strong, but from what I've seen from this guy, you're not as tough as he is."

"It's a Travers thing," said Cody, giving his younger cousin a hug. Suddenly, a couple of cars pulled up, one of which was the Batmobile. From the other car came Felicity and Sarah, the former of which gave the Robins the signal to high-tail it out of there.

"Shannon, there you are!" Sarah exclaimed in a worried tone before noticing who was with her. "Cody!? Is that you?"

"Yep." Batman looked at the shape that Verin was in.

"You did this, didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged, Bats. In fact, I was about to put the cuffs back on. I did break out of Metro City's jail, after all."

"From what I've heard, Travers, it's not the first time it's happened. However," Batman said, getting their attention. "What you did today was rough, but it was good. If I can manage to put in a good word for you, they can end your sentence and put you on parole." Cody was unsure, but a hand on his shoulder and kind smiles from his cousins were enough to get him to nod with a smile.

"I'll get Verin to GCPD," Nate said, getting the okay from Batman.

"Batman," Shannon spoke up. "Is it okay if I go see Logan tomorrow? Our friend Cloak is going through some training to gain control over this alien thing that merged with his Symbiote."

"You've got my okay, but it's up to your mother for the ultimate say-so," said the Dark Knight, getting Shannon to look at Sarah, who gave her a nod. They knew being around Logan was enough of a relief for her after the events that just happened. They also couldn't wait to see Cody in action again.

CHAPTER 34 END

* * *

**Okay, that was long. I was trying to find a way for Verin to be cocky after beating the two Robins while keeping Cody's personality partially intact. It's also been a while since I updated this one, so it was overdue. The next one will bring in Wonder Woman and Byakuya Kuchiki, as well as some special supernatural specialists.**


End file.
